Déjà Vu All Over Again
by GoofyGal2008
Summary: Sometimes, the right choice doesn't reveal itself until it's too late. One mistake sends Abby down a twisted, painful path that is all too familiar to certain members of the Kowalski family.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** My second Against the Wall story! Thank you to everyone who offered suggestions after the epilogue of "Something Bigger" for which story I ought to publish next; this one was the most complete, so it will go first, but don't worry, I promise that the others will be coming too!

While my last story was set a few years ahead of the show, this story begins basically where we are in the show right now. I don't know exactly how long this story will end up being, but I anticipate it will be somewhere between 10 and 15 chapters. Also, before anyone throws anything at me for this first chapter, I would like to reiterate that this is an Abby/Brody story. Just give it time to get there, please!

So, without further ado...

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><p>"I slept with Danny last night."<p>

Mackie Phan nearly spit out her coffee as she dropped her mug to the table and stared at her best friend incredulously. "I'm sorry, you did what?"

"I had sex with Danny Mitchell last night."

Mackie shook her head. She'd known something was up the moment Abby had shown up at the door to her apartment at eight o'clock on a Sunday morning, still wearing the clothes she'd seen her leave in the night before.

"Well? Aren't you going to say something?"

Mackie sighed. "What do you want me to say, Abby? Does this mean you've made a decision? You're picking Danny over Brody?"

"What?" Abby asked in confusion. "No, of course not. I haven't decided anything, Mackie. If anything, I'm more confused than ever."

Mackie frowned and took another sip of her coffee. "So what happened to the booty call rules you had with Brody? Did you forget about those?"

"No, I didn't forget them. They were my idea, remember?" Abby sighed and ran her finger along the rim of her coffee mug. "I don't know, last night was…well, it was weird. First Brody stood me up and then…"

"I'm sorry, _Brody_ stood you up?"

"We were supposed to meet for dinner, but he never showed. Then Richie called and said he was hanging out at Lou's Pub, and I should come join him, so I did. I was pissed at Brody, and then all of a sudden, there was Danny. And he was sweet and nice and I'd had a few drinks…"

"So you had drunk sex with Danny."

"No, I wasn't drunk," Abby insisted. "It was only a few drinks. I don't know, Richie left about half an hour after Danny arrived, and then we were just talking and talking and the next thing I knew, we were in a cab going back to his place."

"I thought Danny didn't want a one night stand with you," Mackie said. "Isn't that why he stopped last time?"

"Well, yeah."

"So what did you tell him?"

"Nothing! I swear, Mackie, I probably only said a half dozen complete sentences the whole night. He did most of the talking."

Mackie sighed and stared carefully at Abby for a moment, as though evaluating her state of mind. "Okay. So what are you going to do?"

"I guess it's too much to hope that I could just pretend like nothing happened, right?"

"Abby, you know that Danny is going to take this to mean that he has a shot at a real relationship with you. What did he say this morning?"

Abby shrugged. "I don't know. I left before he woke up."

"Oh, God, Abby," Mackie sighed. "What am I going to do with you? You are going to have to deal with this mess eventually."

"Eventually could mean a long time from now," Abby said hopefully.

Mackie shook her head. "Or it could mean soon. You know what you have to do, don't you?"

"No," Abby said hesitantly. "I'm not sure I want to know."

"You have to tell Brody what happened."

"Absolutely not," Abby said, looking horrified that Mackie would even suggest it. "He'd completely flip out."

"Yeah. And can you blame him if he does? Abby, you're the one who agreed not to sleep with anyone else. As far as we know, Brody's held up his end of the bargain. You're the one who cheated."

"I did not cheat!" Abby exclaimed defensively. "Cheating implies a relationship, and I was very clear on that point. Brody and I are _not_ in a relationship."

"You can call it whatever you want, Abby. Brody has been nothing but sweet and accommodating and patient, but that man is going to see this as you cheating on him. And quite frankly, I agree with him."

"I thought you were supposed to be _my_ friend."

"I am your friend, Abby," Mackie said impatiently. "Part of being your friend is calling you on your shit when I see it, and I see it big time here. You need to make a choice between Danny and Brody, and you need to make it fast."

* * *

><p>Brody smiled when Abby pulled open the door to her apartment late that same afternoon. He leaned over and kissed her softly before walking into the apartment while Abby shut the door behind him. She lingered for just a moment with her hand on the door, her eyes closed as she forced herself to take a deep breath before turning around.<p>

"What's wrong?" Brody asked in concern almost as soon as he saw her face.

Abby shook her head and sighed to herself. "We need to talk, John."

"Oh." Brody nodded and watched her carefully. "This is about that lawyer, isn't it?"

"There's something you need to know," Abby said slowly, cautiously picking her words. "But before I say anything, you need to know that this isn't me choosing him over you. That's not what this is about. It's just…something you need to know, I guess."

Brody thought he might be sick as he waited for her to continue, both eager to get this over with and dreading whatever she was about to say. As much as she was protesting what it meant, he knew it couldn't possibly be good for him.

"I slept with Danny."

Brody took a step backward, recoiling as though she'd slapped him across the face. His world suddenly felt like it had turned upside down, and not in the good way Abby usually inspired. When he finally felt like he could attempt to speak again, he had only one question.

"When?"

"Does it really matter?"

Brody nodded. "Just tell me if it was before or after we set our rules."

Abby hesitated for a moment, already hating herself for what she was about to say. "After," she admitted reluctantly.

Brody shook his head and rubbed his jaw in frustration.

"I'm so sorry, John," Abby said pleadingly. "This wasn't about me picking him or you. I never meant for this to happen, it just…it happened. If I could take it back, I would, but I can't. It doesn't have to change anything."

"No. Abby, this changes everything."

"It doesn't…"

"This changes _everything_," Brody repeated angrily. "I was okay with your rules, Abby. I want more, but I would have waited as long as it took for you to be ready for that, because have some part of a relationship with you was better to me than no relationship at all. They were your rules, Abby, but I guess you really only meant them to apply to me, didn't you?"

"No, of course not," Abby protested tearfully. "John, I am so sorry, you have…"

"I trusted you, Abby. When you said you were just going to date him, I didn't like it, but I trusted you." Brody shook his head and brushed past her on the way to the door. "I guess that was my mistake."

"Brody, please…don't leave."

Brody pulled open the door, his heart breaking at her tear-stained face as he looked back briefly over his shoulder. "I hope you find what you're looking for with the lawyer, Abby."

Abby shook her head as he slammed the door closed angrily, the sound echoing through her apartment for a moment before she slumped to the floor, burying her head in her hands and crying.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thank you for the great response to the first chapter! For those of you who reviewed anonymously or who don't have private messaging turned on, I couldn't respond personally, but know that I thank you too!

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><p>"He said that?" Mackie asked, watching as Abby moved around her kitchen later that night, slamming cupboards as she looked for some missing ingredient for the frustration-induced cake she'd decided to make. "Just walked out the door and wished you luck with Danny?"<p>

"Basically, yes. Where the hell is my baking powder?"

"Abby, forget about the cake," Mackie instructed, leaning her forearms on the counter. "Let's focus here. Brody really walked out?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that? Yes, he walked out."

"I'm impressed," Mackie said with an approving nod.

Abby slammed the cupboard and turned around. "What do you mean, impressed? You wanted Brody to break up with me?"

"Of course not," Mackie assured her. "But Abby, for the last ten months, John Brody has been bending over backwards to accommodate your every crazy whim. You say jump, he asks how high. The man is clearly smitten, but he's been a little bit of a wallflower, letting you take the lead. It's about time he stood up for himself."

"Did you seriously just use the word smitten?"

"It was appropriate."

"Yeah, in 1945, maybe. No one uses that word these days."

"Well, I do. Now stop changing the subject. We're talking about you and your crazy messed up romantic triangle with Brody and Danny."

Abby sighed. "I just thought maybe Brody would stick around to let me explain."

"Did you tell him you'd made a mistake?"

"Yes."

Mackie nodded. "Okay, don't take this the wrong way, but that's all the explanation you have, Abby. What else did you want him to stick around for?"

"Well, I didn't want him to break up with me!"

Mackie cocked her head to the side and stared at Abby as she pondered her choice of words. "You know, a break up sort of implies that there was a relationship going on."

"Oh, shut up," Abby snapped.

"I'm just trying to help you figure this out," Mackie protested. "So you didn't want Brody to break up with you. Does that mean you were going to end it with Danny?"

"No, it means I hadn't decided yet."

Mackie sighed heavily. "Abby, you know I love you, right? You're the sister I never had."

"Yeah, I know."

"So please know that I say this from a place of love…it's time for you to grow the hell up."

"Hey!"

"You've been stringing Brody along for months, and now you're going to string Danny along too. You need to figure out which one you're in love with, and you need to figure it out _now_."

"You think I'm in love?"

Mackie smiled at the look of surprise on Abby's face. "I do. I think you're just too confused to see it."

"So why don't you just tell me which one to pick?" Abby asked.

"Because this has to be your decision, Abby. If I told you who I thought it was, it would be me picking your boyfriend, not you."

"I just don't know how I'm supposed to know."

Mackie grinned. "Well then, it's a good thing your best friend is here to save the day. Let's do an exercise, okay?"

"You want to go running or something?" Abby asked in confusion. "Mackie, you hate sweating."

"Ew, I know. I only do it because between you and your mom, I'd be three hundred pounds if I didn't." Mackie shook her head. "No, not that sort of exercise. A mental exercise. Close your eyes."

"Mackie…"

"Close them!" Mackie ordered, waiting until Abby complied before she continued. "Good. Now, picture this. You're standing in a hospital. Your mom and your brothers are, I don't know…let's say they're all out of town. And you just found out that your dad was shot in the line of duty."

"Mackie!" Abby exclaimed in shock, opening her eyes. "That's awful!"

"Just close your eyes and picture it, would you?" Mackie instructed impatiently. "So you're in the hallway, and the doctor just suggested that you shouldn't be alone, it's going to be a long wait while he's in surgery. Who do you call?"

"You."

"Aw," Mackie smiled proudly. "I'm touched…but I'm also not answering my phone, and now you really, really need a hug. Who do you call?"

"I…"

"Stop thinking and just answer," Mackie ordered. "Who do you call?"

"Brody."

Mackie's smile grew a little bit wider. "Okay, new scenario. You're in trouble, and you need to do something…oh, let's say possibly illegal, to solve the problem. Only this illegal thing, you can't do it alone, and if you get caught, you and your accomplice would get in big trouble. Who do you ask to help?"

Abby bit her lower lip. "I may or may not have already encountered that scenario," she admitted.

"And?"

"Well, if I did, and I don't admit that I did…but if I did, Brody helped me." Abby hesitated for a moment. "But it wasn't illegal. It just might have gotten us both suspended for a while or something."

"So wait a minute, let me get this straight. There's a real-life situation in which you needed big-time help, and you didn't call your brothers or your dad or Danny…you called Brody?"

"Yes."

Mackie grinned. "So you picked him over your family and over Danny…and that wasn't a big enough clue that maybe he might be the guy for you?"

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!" Abby groaned and smacked the counter in frustration.

"Alright, well, let's try one more," Mackie said. "Picture this…last night, it's Danny in your apartment instead of Brody. You're having a big fight…I don't know, maybe you messed up his stamp collection…"

"Mackie!"

"Okay, fine…maybe you're fighting because he wants things to get more serious than you do. Better?"

Abby nodded.

"Okay, so you're fighting and he gets angry. He wishes you good luck with the cop and storms out the door. How do you feel?"

Abby frowned. "Um…sad, I guess. I don't want to hurt Danny."

"And in reality, how did you feel tonight when Brody walked out?"

"Devastated," Abby admitted. "Like someone had sucker-punched me in the gut."

Mackie stared at Abby silently, waiting for her to make the mental leap.

"Oh my God," Abby gasped, leaning back against the counter, her eyes wide in shock. "I'm in love with Brody."

* * *

><p>"You look like crap," Lina said, looking up from her breakfast burrito as Abby sat down at her desk the next morning. "And coming from a woman who can't sleep more than an hour at a time without getting kicked in the ribs by a tiny soccer player, that's saying something. What happened?"<p>

"What makes you think something happened? Maybe I just didn't sleep well," Abby said defensively.

"Baloney," Lina scoffed. "Come on, let's get it over with so we can get to our real work. Let's hear chapter six hundred forty seven in the Abby Kowalski love saga."

"What are you talking about?"

Lina sighed and set her burrito down. "Abby, for a woman who supposedly doesn't want a relationship because it might interfere with your career, you spend an inordinate amount of time obsessing about your non-relationships. If you'd just hurry up and pick one guy or the other, you'd have a lot more time to focus on work."

"Yeah, well, that decision might not be mine anymore."

Lina leaned forward as best she could with her pregnant belly getting in the way, suddenly very intrigued. "How's that?"

"I slept with Danny."

Lina frowned. "I see. So you picked the lawyer."

"Not exactly."

"Not exactly? What does that mean?"

"I didn't pick anyone," Abby said. "But when I told Brody about what I'd done, he told me it was over between us. He walked away."

"So it's Danny, then." Lina hesitated for a moment, feeling slightly torn between what she knew was best for Abby and just wanting the whole mess to be over with. "Well, at least the decision part is over."

"Not exactly."

"Again with the 'not exactly' stuff," Lina groaned. "What does that even mean?"

"I think I'm in love with Brody," Abby admitted.

"And you're just realizing this _now_?" Lina asked in frustration. "God, Abby, your timing really sucks."

"Tell me about it," Abby sighed. "He's never going to forgive me. I think I ruined any chance I might have had with him."

Lina nodded sympathetically. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"What can I do? I have to tell Danny it's over first."

"That's a good step."

"He deserves better," Abby continued. "He deserves someone who loves him. I like him, but I don't think I love him."

"And Brody?"

"I don't think he'll ever forgive me, and I can't blame him for that. I made him a promise and I broke that promise," Abby said sadly. "But I have to at least try to make things right, don't I? Otherwise I'll end up as one of those sad old ladies who sits around lecturing her nieces and nephews about missed opportunities."

"While you sit in your rocking chair and crochet baby blankets?" Lina asked skeptically.

Abby shook her head and threw a paper clip across the desks at her partner. "Shut up. Maybe I will take up crocheting. You don't know what the future holds."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I know, I just posted chapter 2...please don't expect that I'll always be updating this quickly, because I do like to space things out a little better than this usually, but I'm headed out of town this afternoon for a quick weekend trip, and I really wanted to get this chapter up before tomorrow night's finale airs. I've suspected for a while now that the last part of this chapter might be a twist the writers would throw at us in the finale...so just in case, had to get my version out there first ;-)

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><p>Abby cleared her throat nervously as she stood next to Danny's desk at the State's Attorney's office later that morning. She could see what he had meant about it being a far cry from the defense attorney's lifestyle he'd been living. There, she was sure he'd had a cushy private office; here, he was lucky to have a desk crammed into a bullpen-style room with a half dozen other junior attorneys. She knew from past conversations that it was working conditions like this that were the exact reason he'd left the District Attorney's office for the private sector in the first place.<p>

Danny grinned as he looked up from his paperwork. "Well, this is a nice surprise. You know, it's not good for a man's ego when a woman just disappears from his bed like that."

"We need to talk, Danny."

Danny frowned and nodded, glancing around. "Uh…come on, we can talk in the conference room. It's more private."

Abby nodded and followed him into the other room.

"So…" Danny said nervously. "You're freaking out about Saturday night, aren't you? I know we moved fast, Abby, and that's scary. But scary isn't necessarily a bad thing."

"Danny, we shouldn't have slept together. It was a mistake."

Danny sighed in frustration and tried to reach for her hand, which she quickly pulled away. "Look, Abby, you're scared. I get that. You and Brody being over with means that you and I are a lot more real than before, and real relationships can be scary sometimes."

Abby frowned and stared skeptically at Danny. As far as she knew, only Mackie and Lina knew about what had happened with Brody. "How do you know things are over with Brody?"

"Richie told me."

"Richie? How does Richie know? I didn't tell him."

Danny shrugged. "I didn't ask how he knew, I just assumed Brody told him. They are still partners, right? They see each other every day at work."

"Right…" Abby paused in thought for a moment as she remembered that Richie and Laura had left town Sunday morning to visit her parents for a few days.

"Abby?"

"Oh my God," Abby muttered as she started to put the pieces together. Knowing how Richie felt about his relationship with Abby, there was no way Brody would have gone out of his way to tell her brother what had happened.

"Abby, what's wrong?" Danny asked in concern.

"When exactly did Richie tell you that Brody and I were over?" Abby asked hesitantly.

"Saturday night," Danny said. "When he called to invite to hang out at the bar with you guys."

Abby's jaw clenched in anger at her brother. "That's why you didn't stop us Saturday night like you did last time."

"When Richie told me you had ended it with Brody, I just assumed that meant you were ready to give us a chance. And then when you didn't stop it, I thought I was right…wasn't I?"

"I'm going to kill him," Abby muttered.

"Abby, why are you so upset?" Danny asked in confusion. "Maybe Richie shouldn't gone talking about your personal business to me, but he meant well. He was worried that you were going to beat yourself up about hurting Brody and he thought…"

"Danny, I didn't end things with Brody," Abby interrupted.

"_What_?"

Abby took a deep breath and shook her head. "He ended things with me last night. And only because I told him what we did Saturday night."

"I don't understand, Abby."

Abby sighed. "I don't either, Danny. And I'm sorry you got caught up in all of this, I really am. I never meant to hurt you."

"Abby, no one forced you to sleep with me," Danny said defensively. "Even if I thought things were over between you and Brody, you knew they weren't. No one forced you to do anything, just like no one forced me to do anything. I care about you, and I still want to have a relationship with you, whether you and Brody were over before or after Saturday night."

"Danny, you're a good guy, you really are. And on paper, you're probably everything I should want to find in a man. But we don't live on paper and…"

"And you want Brody," Danny said knowingly. "You know, that's very convenient for you, Abby."

"What is?"

"You want the guy you suddenly can't have," Danny said angrily. "You run from relationships, Abby. There's no risk of getting hurt with Brody now that he's rejected you, so you get to pretend like you're making a choice without actually having to try to have a relationship."

"Danny, I am so sorry that I've hurt you," Abby said sincerely. "But this isn't about fear. This is about the fact that I love Brody. Even if he does reject me, I owe it to him, and to myself, to at least try to get him to forgive me for what I did. And you owe it to yourself to find someone who will love the way I can't. I'm sorry if that upsets you, but that's the way it is."

* * *

><p>"I take it he didn't take it well?" Lina asked, grimacing slightly as Abby got back behind the wheel.<p>

"You could say that." Abby frowned as she looked at her partner. "Are you okay?"

"Um…you know how we were going to grab lunch? You think we could swing by the hospital instead?"

Abby raised her eyebrows and stared at Lina in shock. "What?"

"My contractions are about nine minutes apart and either I just peed my pants or my water broke."

"_Nine_ minutes?" Abby gasped as she quickly started the car. "How the hell did you not notice you were in labor before that?"

"Oh, I noticed. But I've done this three times already, I know the drill. I wasn't going to do anything in the hospital except lie there and be bored."

"Yeah, and safe," Abby retorted. "What if I can't get you there on time?"

"Would you relax, Abby? I told you, I've done this before. The last one was my fastest labor, and it still took seven hours to get from my water breaking to when I started to push. Even you can't drive that slow."

"Fine, but I am not happy with you," Abby grumbled, pulling onto the streets and starting to make a left turn.

"No, no, take the Dan Ryan," Lina practically screamed, trying to speak just as another contraction hit her. "It's faster this time of day."

* * *

><p>Abby hit her horn and slammed her palm into the steering wheel as they inched along at about five miles an hour.<p>

"Faster, huh?"

"Shut up," Lina snapped, her teeth gritted in pain as she grabbed onto the door handle for another contraction. "Abby, I'm going to ask you do something, so don't freak out, okay?"

"About what?"

"I need you to pull over."

"What? Why?"

Lina took a deep breath. "Because this is going way faster than the other three. My contractions are only…maybe two minutes…"

"Oh shit," Abby muttered, immediately swerving out of her lane and into the shoulder, ignoring the honking horns of the other angry drivers. Quickly grabbing her cell phone, she called dispatch and requested an ambulance at their location as soon as possible.

"There's no time," Lina said breathlessly. "I'm going to get in the back seat and…"

"Hell no," Abby shook her head as she jumped out of the car and rushed around to the passenger side. "You keep your legs closed, Lina Flores, I am _not_ delivering little Carlos."

"Don't have…a choice…" Lina groaned as Abby helped her into the back seat.

"Oh God, oh my God," Abby muttered. "Okay, what do I do?"

"Can you see the head?" Lina asked.

"Um…" Abby lifted up Lina's skirt and glanced down. "Yeah, I see it…damn, Lina, the kid's got a lot of hair already."

"That's my boy," Lina said proudly, grimacing slightly. "Okay, get the thermal blanket out of the emergency kit in the trunk. Then all you have to do is catch."

"Catch?" Abby asked in horror.

Lina nodded, grabbing the back of the seat as another contraction came over her and she started to push.

"Oh God, please don't let me screw this up," Abby prayed, grabbing the blanket and rushing back to Lina.

"I'm…going to…kill…Carlos…" Lina screamed, her face contorting with pain as she pushed again.

"I think…yeah, he's coming…" Abby shouted excitedly. "Okay, come on, Lina! You can do this!"

"I've got three already, I think I damn well know that!" Lina screamed, another contraction forcing her to push for the last time.

Abby laughed as she wrapped the blanket around the baby, carefully wiping it off and grabbing the shoelace she'd untied for the umbilical cord. Quickly tying it off, she glanced down and frowned. "Oh…" she muttered in surprise.

"Oh? What do you mean, 'oh'?" Lina gasped, trying to lift her head through her exhaustion to see what was going on. "What's wrong?"

"What? No, nothing's wrong, Lina, I promise," Abby assured her quickly.

"You don't say 'oh' if nothing's wrong!" Lina struggled to sit up. "What's wrong with my baby, Abby?"

"I swear, Lina, nothing," Abby assured her. "It's just…how attached are you to naming this one Carlos?"

"Pretty damn attached," Lina said in confusion. "I promised Carlos, since this is the last kid I'm having, we'll name it after him. Why? And don't tell me he doesn't look like a Carlos, because you know damn well you can't tell on a kid that new."

"Oh, I can tell," Abby said, carefully lifting the naked baby and holding it up so Lina could see. "How do you feel about Carla instead?"

"What the…?" Lina muttered in shock.

"Guess the doctors aren't always right," Abby laughed. "Congratulations, Mama. It's a girl."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Seriously? How could they leave us with a finale cliffhanger like that? On the other hand, yay for being right about it being a girl! Now that that's out of the way...I did a ton of writing this afternoon, so the next few chapters should come at a pretty steady clip :)

* * *

><p>Donnie smiled as he opened the door of his house to find his sister on his doorstep. "Abby, hey. What brings you by?"<p>

"Do you still have those boxes of baby clothes in the garage?"

Donnie frowned and looked at his sister skeptically. "Something you need to tell me, Abby?"

Abby sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I delivered a baby this morning."

"What?"

Abby laughed at the look on her oldest brother's face. "Lina's baby, Donnie. I delivered Lina's baby in the back of my car on the side of the Dan Ryan expressway."

"Isn't this Lina's fourth kid?" Donnie asked in confusion. "Why does she need my kids' hand-me-downs?"

Abby smiled. "Because Lina's got three boys, and was expecting a fourth, only apparently no one told baby Carla that she was supposed to be a boy. And I happen to know that Gail thinks she and Steve might eventually have use for their old baby stuff at least one more time, so here I am."

Donnie laughed and motioned for Abby to follow him. "Come on, I've got a garage full of pink clothes you can raid. For some reason, Amy only wanted the furniture and the jewelry in the divorce."

"Gee, I can't imagine why, because all these boxes look _so _appealing," Abby said as she glanced around the cluttered garage. "When was the last time you cleaned this place out, Donnie?"

Donnie shrugged. "Beats me. I think Amy put the baby clothes in the corner over here." Donnie paused as he lifted the lids on a few boxes. "Yup, here we are. She labeled them all by kid, so you should be able to tell which ones are boy stuff and which ones are girl stuff."

"You're not sticking around to help me sort it?" Abby asked.

Donnie shook his head. "Richie's coming by to pick up some tools to put together the crib they picked up from Laura's parents yesterday."

"Richie's coming here?"

"Should be here in about fifteen minutes or so." Donnie frowned at the way Abby's jaw was clenching slightly. "You okay, Abby?"

"I'm going to start going through these boxes," Abby said. "Don't tell Richie I'm here."

"Why not?"

"Because the next time I see him, I'm very likely to kill him, and I'd rather not leave blood on your carpets."

Donnie groaned. "You're fighting with Richie? You never fight with Richie, Abby. At least, not serious fighting."

"Yeah, well, Richie's never been this much of a jackass before," Abby muttered, turning toward the boxes. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Suit yourself." Donnie shrugged and started to make his way out of the garage. "There are some empty boxes over there if you need them. Help yourself to whatever you think Lina can use, I don't have any use for it anymore."

* * *

><p>"So were you planning on telling me that we're having a fight? Or what we're fighting about?"<p>

Abby whirled around, a blue-and-orange Bears onesie in her hands. "Richie. I thought I told Donnie not to tell you I was here."

"He didn't," Richie said. "I saw your car out front."

"Oh. Right."

"He did say you were mad at me for something, though," Richie said. "Care to tell me what so I can fix it?"

"If you wanted to fix it, you wouldn't have done it in the first place," Abby snapped, tossing the onesie in the box she was filling and turning back to the clothes.

"Abby, what's going on?"

"Did you think that I wouldn't find out?" Abby asked angrily, tossing another outfit into the box. "Did you think Danny just wouldn't mention that I'd supposedly broken up with Brody?"

Richie sighed. "This is about Saturday, then."

"What the hell else would it be about?" Abby shouted, turning back around. "What were you thinking, Richie? You've got a lot of nerve, pulling a stunt like that."

"Abby…"

"No," Abby interrupted angrily. "Don't you dare try to placate me with that tone, Richard Kowalski. I expect you to meddle, you're my brother, it's what you all do. But to go behind my back and lie to Danny? And to me? What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was just trying to help, Abby."

"Help? Help who? I was doing just fine on my own, Richie!"

"You weren't even giving Danny a chance," Richie retorted. "You saw Brody four times last week, and you didn't see Danny even once. And then you were going to go out with Brody again on Saturday? I just thought if you spent some time with Danny…"

"Wait," Abby interrupted angrily. "What did you say to Brody?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're the reason he didn't show up on Saturday, aren't you? What did you do to him?"

"I didn't _do_ anything to him, Abby."

"Richie…"

"Fine," Richie grumbled. "I may have borrowed your phone and sent him a text canceling your date."

"You son of a bitch," Abby muttered. "You had no right, Richie. No right whatsoever."

"I'm your brother, Abby. I was just trying…"

"It's _my_ life, Richie! Mine! You had no right to go manipulating it behind my back!"

"I wasn't trying to manipulate anyone, Abby," Richie insisted. "You and Danny, you're a great match. I just thought if I gave you a little push, you might open your eyes and see that."

"You don't get it, do you? That wasn't a push, Richie, that was shoving us off the freaking cliff!"

"Abby…"

"Well, I guess you can be happy about one thing."

"What's that?"

"Brody and I are over. I screwed everything up and now he won't even talk to me. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

Richie frowned at the way Abby was close to tears as she screamed at him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her this upset. "Abby, I just want you to be happy. I thought Danny could make you happy, that's why I…"

"Why couldn't you let me live my own life, Richie? I don't want Danny!"

"Abby…"

"If you had just stayed out of it, I would have figured it out on my own! You can't force me to love someone I don't love, and you damn well can't make me fall out of love with Brody, even if he doesn't want anything to do with me anymore!"

Richie sighed. "Do you want me to talk to Brody? Explain what happened? I'll…"

"No!" Abby shoved a few more outfits into Lina's box and snatched it up off the floor. "What I want, Richie, is for you to stay the hell out of my business. I want you to stay out of my life, is that clear? We're done!"

"Abby, I'm sorry," Richie pleaded as she brushed past him toward the door. "You have to believe me, I'd never do anything to deliberately hurt you. I'm your brother and I…"

Abby shook her head angrily, resting the box on her hip as she turned back to him. "In name only, Richie. I feel like I don't even know you anymore. From now on, I don't want anything to do with you, so just stay the hell away from me!"

Donnie appeared in the doorway just as Abby stormed out, staring in surprise at her and then back at Richie after she'd left.

"Damn Richie, what the hell did you do to her?"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Finally, here comes the real meat of the story...let the drama begin!

* * *

><p>"You know, if you keep following me around like this, someone might see you in I.A. and think you didn't hate us," Abby observed as she found Steve waiting for her at her desk when she arrived for her shift.<p>

"Brought you a coffee," Steve said, smiling as he held out the cup to her.

Abby frowned and took it hesitantly. "What do you want?"

"What? A guy can't buy his baby sister a coffee anymore without an ulterior motive?"

Abby arched her eyebrows as she set the coffee on her desk and stared at her brother.

"Okay, fine," Steve relented. "First thing, I heard you've been sick. You feeling better?"

"It was just the flu," Abby assured him. "I'm fine. What was the second thing?

"Oh, um, Mom wants to know if you're coming tonight."

Abby sighed. "No, I'm not."

Steve stared at her in surprise. "Come on, Abby, it's the Bears. And it's the last game home game of the season!"

Abby shook her head. "I don't care, Steve. I thought I was very clear the last five times you or Donnie came to bug me about this - if Richie's going to be there, I'll watch the came at home tonight."

"Alone?"

"Yes."

"Now that's just wrong, Abby. And what are you planning to do next week?"

"There's no game next week, Steve."

Steve nodded. "I know. But there is this little thing called Christmas. You know, that day with the tree and the presents and all those family-type people who get together for dinner?"

Abby groaned. "I forgot."

"_You_ forgot about Christmas?"

"I've had a lot on my mind," Abby said defensively. "I'll be there for Christmas, Steve, Mom doesn't have to worry about that. But if she tries to make me sit anywhere near Richie, I'm leaving. And I'm not kidding about that."

"It's been six weeks, Abby. Don't you think you've punished him long enough?"

"This isn't about punishing him, Steve. I can't look at him without thinking about what he did, and I can't think about what he did without wanting to beat him to a pulp. This is about protecting him."

"That's bullshit and you know it," Steve retorted. "You have to forgive him at some point, Abby."

"Says who?"

"Says everyone in this family," Steve replied. "He feels terrible about what he did, Abby. But you need to accept that no matter what Richie did, this situation with Brody is more than partly your fault, too."

Abby recoiled slightly. "What?"

"There's this thing called personal responsibility, Abby. No matter what Richie said to anyone, no one forced you into bed with Danny. That's on you."

"You think I don't know that? You think I don't beat myself up every day for that?" Abby snapped at her brother. "I accept responsibility for screwing up. But don't forget that Richie got me pissed off at Brody, plied me with alcohol and then left me alone with Danny. He knew damn well what I was likely to do…it's what he wanted me to do."

"I'm not defending him, Abby," Steve insisted. "What he did was wrong, no doubt about that. And believe me, he's heard all about it from me and Donnie and Mom and Dad…I'm just saying, it's time to start thinking about forgiving him. For the sake of our family. I mean come on, the guy is absolutely miserable."

"What, and I'm not?"

Steve sighed and kissed Abby's cheek as he stood up. "I've got to get back to work. Just think about it, okay?"

Abby shook her head as he walked away, taking a big sip of the coffee he'd brought her and nearly spitting it onto her desk. Crinkling her nose as she sniffed it, she quickly tossed it into the trash. "God, Steve, were you trying to poison me with bad coffee?" she muttered to herself, turning back to her desk.

* * *

><p>Abby sighed as she picked up a piece of popcorn from the bowl on the table, stared at it for a moment and tossed it back into the bowl. She could hear the television in the background, the crowds screaming wildly as the Bears made another touchdown, but she just couldn't bring herself to focus on the game.<p>

"Stupid Lina," she muttered as she rejected another piece of popcorn. They'd met for lunch at a park near the station so that Abby could visit the baby and relieve some of what Lina referred to as her "maternity leave madness." And as usual, all it had taken was one not-so-subtle suggestion by her partner, and Abby's whole afternoon had been thrown off.

"The woman is crazy," Abby said to herself, picking up the popcorn and carrying it into the kitchen to dumb it in the trash can. "One bad hot dog and she starts getting ideas…"

_"God, I've missed onions," Lina said, biting into her hot dog and moaning slightly. "I still can't believe Carlos thought they were bad for the baby. She came out fine!"_

_"Yeah, thanks to her favorite Auntie Abby," Abby pointed out, laughing as she made a face at baby Carla and lifted her into the air._

_"Uh huh." Lina shook her head. "Hey listen, there's something I wanted to ask you."_

_"What's up?"_

_"You're Catholic, right?"_

_"Well, I haven't been to confession in, like, a year, but yeah…why?"_

_"We're setting a date for Carla's baptism," Lina said. "We're thinking probably the end of January, but Carlos and I realized that between the two of us, we've got one more brother who isn't already a godfather to one of the kids, but we don't have a godmother. So, we were talking about it, and we both agreed there was only one perfect godmother for her…so would you do it?"_

_"Me?" Abby asked in surprise. "You want me to be Carla's godmother?"_

_"Yeah. Will you?"_

_Abby grinned and turned back to the baby. "I don't know, little one, what do you think? Do you think Auntie Abby should be your godmother?" She laughed as the baby cooed in response and turned back to Lina. "We say yes."_

_"Well, I'm so glad you both agree. Now put my daughter down and eat your lunch before it gets cold."_

_"You really are a mother, aren't you?" Abby teased, carefully strapping Carla back into her carrier and grabbing her hot dog from the table. Lina frowned as she watched Abby take a bite and grimace._

_"What's wrong?"_

_"Nothing, it just tastes…I don't know, nasty," Abby said, quickly setting the hot dog down. "I think I got a bad dog, that's all. I hope I don't get food poisoning."_

_Lina reached across the table and grabbed the hot dog, quickly taking a bite._

_"Hey!" Abby protested. "Don't do that, you can't afford to get sick with four kids!"_

_"Abby, there's nothing wrong with this hot dog," Lina said, setting it back down. "Are you feeling alright? Haven't you been sick lately?"_

_"I had the flu the last few weeks, but I'm fine now," Abby said. "Why?"_

_Lina's frown deepened as she stared at Abby for a moment, taking in her complexion, her expression, everything about her appearance. "Abby, have you noticed anything else tasting strange lately? Like coffee, maybe?"_

_"Nah, the coffee shop's been burning my coffee for a couple of weeks, so I haven't been drinking much of it. Although…" Abby hesitated for a moment. "Steve brought me some coffee this morning, and it was burnt too."_

_"Oh my God," Lina muttered in shock._

_"What?"_

_"Abby, when was your last period?"_

_Abby frowned and stared at Lina in confusion. "Why does that…? No. Absolutely not, Lina."_

_"You're getting sick, foods that you love are suddenly repulsive, your skin is breaking out…"_

_"I'm stressed, Lina," Abby insisted defensively. "Not pregnant. I'm on the pill."_

_"So was I the first time I got pregnant," Lina pointed out._

_"Okay, let me make this crystal clear," Abby said carefully. "I am NOT pregnant. No way, no how. So get baby off your mind, because I am not having one."_

"I'm not," Abby repeated to herself as she stared at the pharmacy bag lying on the island in her kitchen. "One bad hot dog does not mean anything."

Abby groaned to herself as she heard Lina's voice repeating in her head again, insisting that she face the facts and accept what might be going on. With a heavy sigh, she opened the bag and lined up the six neatly packaged pregnancy tests on the countertop. One of each brand, just in case.

"Better get this over with," she muttered to herself, scooping them up and carrying them into the bathroom.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Thank you all so much for your reviews on the last chapter! I'm sorry I haven't been able to respond personally, my email has been acting up so I wasn't getting the notifications. I will try to catch up if I have time today. In the meantime, please enjoy chapter 6...we're going to spend a little time with a Kowalski we've only seen a tiny glimpse of on the show :-)

* * *

><p>Abby was still shaking half an hour later as she sat on the cold tile floor of the bathroom, her back against the tub as she stared at the base of the sink, unable to move despite the knocking at the front door. She'd barely had enough strength to make the phone call; getting up to open the door was more than she could manage in her state of shock. Finally, the knocking stopped and she heard the door slide open.<p>

"Abby? Are you in here?" Abby heard her sister-in-law walking around the apartment for a minute or two before she finally appeared in the doorway of the bathroom. "Oh my God, Abby, what happened?" she gasped, dropping to her knees at Abby's side.

Abby silently pointed toward the countertop. Gail slowly stood up and looked where Abby had pointed. "Oh Abby," she sighed as she carefully picked up one of the six positive pregnancy tests that stared up at her from the counter.

"I didn't know who to call," Abby said quietly as Gail lowered herself back down to the floor next to Abby and squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Mom's at home with the boys, and I don't know if I could call her even if they weren't, she'd freak out…and Mackie's in New York for work…I couldn't call Laura because she might tell Richie and I…I know you had the kids to deal with, and Steve's at Mom and Dad's watching the game and I…I'm sorry for ruining your night."

"Abby," Gail interrupted gently, offering up a half-smile to reassure her. "You don't have to apologize for calling me. We may not be as close as you and Laura are, or as close as you and Amy were before she left Donnie, but you're still my sister-in-law. That means you're family, and in my book, that means showing up no matter when you call…not just when it's convenient."

"Well, thank you," Abby asked with a half-smile of her own, hesitating for a moment before continuing. "Why aren't we closer, Gail?"

"Honestly?" Gail's smiled faltered just a bit. "It's not easy marrying into the Kowalski family, Abby. I was an only child with two parents whose idea of expressing love involved writing checks and sending me to fancy boarding schools. I never had to learn to talk over anyone to be heard, which isn't exactly a good thing if you want anyone to ever notice you in a family like yours."

"Have we made you feel completely unwelcome?"

"Of course not," Gail assured her quickly. "Do you think Steve and I would have been married for ten years if that were the case? I've never felt unwelcome, Abby. Just…maybe not as much of a part of the club as Laura or Amy."

"Yeah, well, look what good that did for Amy."

Gail grimaced slightly. "I know, right? And did you see the guy?"

"What, the one she cheated on Donnie with?" Abby shook her head. "No, did you?"

Gail nodded. "I went and had lunch with her at the hospital about a month before it all came out, and she introduced me. I didn't know she sleeping with him until much later when Steve told me the guy's name."

"And…?"

"And this guy had a bald spot, a comb over, and a pot belly," Gail said, leaning in with a slightly conspiratorial giggle.

"He did not!" Abby gasped.

"He did," Gail insisted, finally settling on the floor and leaning back against the tub. "I'm not exaggerating, Abby, I don't know what the hell Amy was thinking. I mean, if you're going to cheat, at least have enough respect for your spouse to do it with someone better looking than them. Otherwise it's just plain rude…plus, it increases your chances of being forgiven."

"I'm sorry, what?" Abby asked skeptically.

"Well, think about it," Gail said. "We all like to think we're decently good looking people, right? So what does it say about us if the person we married goes out and prefers sleeping with someone we would view as ugly? Or at least, less attractive than ourselves?"

"Yeah, I guess that would be pretty depressing," Abby agreed reluctantly.

"On the other hand, if Steve came home tomorrow and told me he'd slept with…I don't know, Heidi Klum…yeah, I'd be hurt, but there'd also be a part of me thinking, _damn…way to go, Steve_. Because come on, it's Heidi Klum. After a decent period of being pissed off, how could I really blame him for that?"

"Are you serious?"

Gail shrugged and grinned. "Beats me. Let's ask Steve to try to sleep with Heidi Klum and we can find out."

Abby stared at her sister-in-law for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Oh my God," she gasped, wiping a tear from her eye. "Thank you, Gail."

"For what?"

"Thirty minutes ago, I was so freaked out that I could hardly breathe," Abby admitted. "You've been here, what, five minutes? And you've already made me laugh."

"Well, I'm glad I can help," Gail said, frowning as she watched Abby's complexion pale slightly. "Speaking of…let's get you a little closer to that toilet, sweetie."

* * *

><p>"Here, try this."<p>

Abby nodded, sitting up as she lay on her fully made bed an hour later, still fighting her queasy stomach. Frowning, she sniffed the steaming mug she had taken from Gail's hand.

"What is it?" she asked skeptically.

"Ginger tea," Gail said as she sat down on the other side of the bed and took a sip from her own mug. "It helps calm your stomach."

Abby took a sip and grimaced. "You'll get used to it," Gail assured her.

"Was this in my kitchen?"

"Oh, um…not exactly," Gail said hesitantly. "I, uh, I've been carrying a few bags of it in my purse for the last month or two."

"Why would…oh…" Abby's eyes grew wide as she made the mental connection. "How far along are you?"

"Almost twelve weeks," Gail admitted, glancing nervously down at her hands.

"Oh Gail," Abby sighed, smiling as she reached out to hug her sister-in-law. "Why haven't you told anyone yet?"

Gail shook her head and smiled sadly. "We had it so easy with the girls. We just decided to have a baby, I stopped birth control, a few months later I'd be pregnant and nine months later there they were. When we decided to have a third, I thought it would be the same thing."

"But it's not?"

"I've had four miscarriages in the last two and a half years, Abby," Gail admitted. "Most of the time it was early enough that we hadn't told anyone about the baby yet, but still…we decided to wait until I was out of my first trimester to tell everyone this time around, so we were going to make the announcement at Christmas dinner."

"I had no idea, Gail," Abby said quickly. "I wouldn't have bothered you like this if I had…you're all excited and happy about your baby, and you should be…God, the last thing you need is to be here with your Debbie-downer sister-in-law who's freaking out and isn't even sure she wants to keep her baby…"

Gail laughed and shook her head as she squeezed Abby's hand. "Trust me, Abby, I get it. Not every pregnancy is a cause for celebration. I understand if you're feeling scared and alone and confused by it all…angry, even, and wondering why God would do this to you."

"How do you…?"

Gail smiled sadly. "When I was sixteen, I spat in the face of a priest who told me that a baby was a blessing from God that we should be grateful for no matter what the circumstances."

"You spat at a priest?" Abby asked in surprise, feeling a newfound respect forming for the woman she'd often thought too timid for the Kowalski clan.

"I was hormonal," Gail admitted defensively. "Sorry, but when you're sixteen and your friends are going on dates and buying prom dresses and freaking out about which shoes to wear with them, and you're wearing maternity jeans and going to Lamaze classes with some housekeeper your mother paid off and you can't even see your own feet…the last thing thing I wanted to hear was that I was being blessed, because I sure as hell didn't feel blessed at the time." Gail paused for a moment and took a breath. "Did I just say all of that out loud?"

Abby nodded. "You had a baby at sixteen?"

"I was young and stupid and reckless…all of which my parents reminded me of every day for nine months," Gail said. "I had a baby boy who was adopted by a nice couple in Oklahoma. They were both schoolteachers. I wasn't ready to be a parent, especially not a single teenage mother…I could barely take care of myself."

"Does Steve know?"

Gail nodded. "Yeah, he knows. We'll tell the girls when they're older, we don't want it to be this huge secret forever, but for now, I just think it would be confusing for them, knowing that they have an older brother out there somewhere and…"

"Speaking from experience, older brothers can be highly overrated," Abby interrupted. "Keep those little angels big brother-free for now. I won't say a word."

Gail laughed. "Thank you. So…now that you know my deepest, darkest secret, what do you say we get back to the reason you called me over here in the first place?"

"Do we have to?"

"Well, we could ignore it for a while," Gail conceded. "But it'll become kind of hard to pretend it's not there when none of your clothes fit."

"Fine," Abby grumbled, taking another sip of her tea.

"Do you, uh, know who the father is?" Gail asked hesitantly.

Abby nodded reluctantly. "Yeah…and he isn't going to be happy when he finds out."

"Why not?"

"Because Danny was _pissed_ when I told him I didn't want a relationship with him," Abby said. "He's going to think this changes things."

"Doesn't it, though?"

"I mean, I know it changes certain things," Abby admitted. "For one, Brody's even less likely to ever have anything to do with me now. But I'm not going to try a relationship with Danny just for the sake of the baby. That wouldn't be fair to any of us. Can you imagine the tension, growing up with parents who don't love each other?"

"So you are going to keep the baby?"

Abby sighed and glanced down at her stomach. "Yeah, I guess I am."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **You know, I should probably be spacing these chapters out a little more...but I'm so excited by what I'm writing, I just can't wait to share it with you all every time I finish a chapter!

* * *

><p>The next afternoon, Abby glanced down at the piece of paper in her hand and then back up at the apartment door in front of her before raising her hand and knocking. Although she honestly couldn't place the outside of the building anywhere in her memories of the one time she'd been here, this was definitely the right type of place. The fact that she'd had to flash her badge to get past a fancy doorman without being announced should have been proof enough of that.<p>

"Abby," Danny said in surprise as he opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk."

Danny frowned. "You already dumped me once, Abby. Come to do it again?"

"This is important, Danny," Abby said impatiently. "May I please come in?"

Danny nodded reluctantly, stepping back to allow her to enter the apartment. Looking around, Abby furrowed her brow in confusion at the piles of boxes stacked in every corner.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Los Angeles."

Abby did a double-take and stared at him in disbelief as the words came out of his mouth. "Los Angeles? What the hell is in Los Angeles?"

"You mean besides gorgeous weather?" Danny asked with a smirk. "A fantastic job opportunity at one of the most prestigious international law firms around. A friend of mine from law school dropped my name into the mix a few weeks ago, and I got the call last Friday offering me the job. It'll be a couple years of putting in hours that would make most 100-hour-a-week associates look like slackers, but it's a fast-track to partner and a seven figure salary if I don't screw this up."

"Wow." Abby hesitated for a moment as she considered just how different their lives were going to be in a few months. "Congratulations, Danny."

"I know you didn't come here to congratulate me on the new job, Abby, so why don't you just spit it out?"

Abby sighed and nodded. "I'm pregnant, Danny."

"Oh." Danny frowned, temporarily thrown off by the unexpected announcement. "Well, Brody must be thrilled. It's a little extreme, but that's certainly one way to stake your claim."

Abby rolled her eyes. "Oh, grow up, Danny. I'm _six weeks_ pregnant." Abby waited for a moment as a flicker of understanding flashed on Danny's face as his eyes grew wide. "It's your baby."

"No." Danny shook his head. "That's not possible, Abby. We're not having a baby."

"It certainly wasn't something I had planned on, but yes, Danny, we _are_ having a baby."

"How can you be so sure it's even mine?"

"There was a whole week between the last time I slept with Brody and the night we slept together - a week in which I had my period. It couldn't be anyone else's, Danny."

Danny nodded. "Well, at least you're only six weeks. You've still got time for other options."

"Options?" It was Abby's turn to be shocked as she realized what he was referring to. "I'm having this baby, Danny. That's the only _option_ on the table here. I can't believe you'd even think I would consider an abortion!"

"Oh, and I don't even get a say in this?" Danny snapped angrily. "I'm not ready to have a baby, Abby! I'm moving to California in four days. Do you really want to raise a kid with parents on opposite sides of the country? What part of my insane hours makes you think I'm going to have the time to fly back here to see a kid?"

"I don't know how it would work, Danny, but…"

"I wouldn't work, that's how," Danny interrupted. "And I'm not giving up this job just because you forgot to take a pill."

"I'm not asking you to give up your precious job," Abby snapped, suddenly at least as angry as he was. "I don't expect anything from you, Danny, and I'm not asking for anything. If you don't want to be a father, fine. Don't be a father. But I am having this baby, with or without you."

"I don't walk away from my responsibilities, Abby," Danny countered. "When that baby is born, I want a paternity test. _If_ it's mine, we can talk about child support. But I don't have time for a baby in my life…especially not as a part-time parent."

* * *

><p>"Wait, he actually said that? He wants a paternity test?"<p>

Abby nodded and shrugged as Gail grabbed another slice of pizza and flopped back down onto the couch that evening. "Yeah. I don't really blame him, either. He knows I was sleeping with Brody."

"Still…you'd think he'd be a little nicer about it. I mean, did he even give you a phone number? Some way to contact him in L.A.?"

"No." Abby frowned. "But no one changes their cell number when they move these days. And if this law firm is really a big deal, he can't be that hard to track down even if he does."

"True. But still, to not even offer when he knows you're having his baby? I know I've never met the guy, but he strikes me as kind of a jackass."

Abby sighed and shook her head. "The more I think about it, the more I realize that I don't actually know him all that well."

"I thought he was an old friend?"

"More like a casual acquaintance, someone I knew in passing. We'd go out as part of a group, but it was never just us back then," Abby explained. "In the last few months, we went on a couple of dates, but that's it. He always seemed sweet, but I guess I've never been on his bad side before. It really wasn't attractive."

"No one's bad side is attractive, Abby."

"I don't know," Abby said thoughtfully. "Brody's kind of cute when he's angry."

"Really?"

"I don't mean like right now, because I don't think he's angry at me right now. He more just kind of looks like I shot his puppy or something right now. But when he's actually angry…well, okay, maybe cute isn't the right word."

"What would be?"

Abby smiled shyly. "Um…hot?"

"Do you guys fight a lot?" Gail asked curiously.

"Hardly at all. Other than the whole sleeping with Danny thing, I can only think of one other time…and I definitely deserved him being angry at me for that one."

"What exactly did you do?"

Abby blushed. "Well…we were, you know…on the couch…and I sort of handcuffed him to the coffee table and accused him of planting a drop gun when Richie shot that kid."

Gail's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at her sister-in-law. "You did not!"

"I did," Abby admitted. "And as mad as he was…there was a part of me that didn't want to un-cuff him, because he looked so good."

Gail laughed and shook her head. "Handcuffs, huh? I'll have to keep that in mind the next time I want something from Steve."

Abby grimaced and shook her head vigorously. "Okay, let's establish a ground rule right here…I don't want to hear anything about you and my brother and handcuffs ever again. That's just…ew…"

"Deal." Gail smiled but turned to Abby with a serious expression. "So, when are you going to tell Brody about the baby?"

Abby frowned. "I was thinking the day after never would be a good time."

"You can't hide from him forever, Abby," Gail pointed out. "If you don't tell him yourself before he hears it from someone else, you're hurting your chances of a reconciliation down the road and…"

"Gail," Abby interrupted. "He's not going to forgive me, especially not now. Brody and I are not going to get back together. He's not going to want to saddle himself with another man's kid."

"You don't know that unless you talk to him."

Abby sighed and shook her head. "I can't ask him to do that, Gail."

Gail frowned but nodded, not wanting to push too far. "Regardless, Abby, you have to tell him."

"Why?"

"Would you rather run into him when you're eight months pregnant and have that be how he finds out? Or worse, would you rather he hear it from Richie?"

"No."

"Then you have to do it, Abby," Gail insisted. "Just tell him."

* * *

><p><em>"Just tell him."<em>

Gail's words echoed in Abby's head as she reached a shaking hand out and knocked on the familiar apartment door. She had to force herself to breathe when she heard him undoing the deadbolt on the other side, knowing that her time to flee was running out. She had to get this over with, no matter how badly she feared his reaction.

She had to quickly stick out both her hand and her foot to keep him from closing the door as soon as he saw her standing there. "Please…you don't have to let me in, just hear me out. Please, Brody?"

Brody sighed and nodded reluctantly, releasing his hold on the door and crossing his arms over his chest, staring at a spot just over her shoulder. "Alright. Talk."

"I'm pregnant." In any other situation, Abby might have laughed at the way Brody's jaw dropped and his hands fell to his sides. Her breath hitched slightly as he looked her in the eyes for the first time since she had told him about Danny, and her heart broke a little at what she knew she had to tell him next. "It's Danny's baby. I'm so sorry, John."

Brody's jaw clenched and unclenched a few times as she waited, and the tension and raw pain were obvious in his voice when he finally spoke. "Why are you here, Abby?"

"I…I didn't want you to hear it from Richie…or not hear it at all, and then see me one day…I just thought, after everything I've put you through, you deserved to hear it from me, not from my brother and certainly not from some stranger."

Brody nodded. "I don't know what you want me to say here, Abby."

"You don't have to say anything." Abby took a deep breath as she felt the tears welling up in her eyes. She wished it was just the hormones at work in her body, but she knew it was more. "I'm so sorry for hurting you, John. You were…I wish I had seen how much I could have really loved you. I don't expect you to ever forgive me, but I am sorry."

Brody hesitated before nodding slightly. "Well, thank you…for coming to tell me, I mean. But you didn't have to worry about me hearing it from Richie. Or anywhere else around the station for that matter."

"What are you talking about? Richie gossips like a little girl."

Brody smiled, which in turn made Abby smile. "True. But I guess he didn't tell you?"

Abby shook her head. "Brody, I haven't spoken to Richie in six weeks."

"Right." Brody nodded. "I think he mentioned something about that. He, uh, he told about what he did that night."

"I don't know what he was thinking, trying to manipulate things like that."

Brody sighed. "He was wrong, but he didn't make you sleep with suit boy, Abby. You did that all on your own."

"I know," Abby admitted. "And you have no idea how much I regret that, Brody. If I could change things…"

Brody shook his head. "My point was, as of the end of our shift yesterday, I'm no longer Richie's partner. We don't even work in the same district anymore."

"What?"

"After Richie told me what happened, I put in for a transfer out," Brody said. "You know how it is on patrol. I have to trust my partner without reservations, and I couldn't do that with Richie anymore. It took a while, but a spot just opened up for a beat cop in Englewood, in the Gang Enforcement Section."

"Brody, you can't…not because of me…"

"Don't beat yourself up about this, Abby," Brody interrupted, his hand twitching slightly as he fought the instinct to reach out and brush the tears from her cheeks. "Who knows, this might have happened anyway. GES is a pretty exclusive unit, and this is a great opportunity for me…everyone who's anyone in GES cut their teeth in that neighborhood."

"Well yeah, but it's so dangerous and…"

"I'll be fine," Brody assured her, reaching for the door again. "Congratulations on the baby, Abby. I'm sure you and…well, I know you'll be an amazing mother."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **I seriously love all of you. Thank you so much for the reviews! It's so nice to know that people are reading and enjoying what I'm writing! I love hearing your ideas and thoughts on what's to come, even if I can't always incorporate everything you guys might want to happen (although I do try!). So, to thank you all, here is the longest chapter I've written in quite some time...

* * *

><p>Gail glanced at the clock on the wall in the kitchen as she hurried through on her way to the front door. "I'm coming," she muttered as the knocking continued, sending up a silent prayer as she reached the door. Whatever the odds might be, a police officer's wife would never get comfortable with an unexpected presence at the door when her husband was on duty - especially not at ten o'clock at night.<p>

Pulling open the door just a crack, she almost sighed in relief when she saw her sister-in-law standing there, tears streaming down her face.

"I take it you talked to Brody?"

Abby nodded and sniffled slightly as Gail opened the door wider and let her in to the apartment.

"Come on in," Gail said gently, closing the door and leading Abby into the living room. "You want to talk about it?"

Abby shook her head. "There's nothing to talk about. He…he hates me, Gail."

"Oh Abby, I'm sure that's not true," Gail said, tucking her legs underneath her as they settled in on the couch. "He's just hurt, that's all. I've seen the way he looks at you. That man's been in love with you for ages."

"Not anymore," Abby insisted tearfully. "He could barely even look at me."

"Maybe he just needs some time," Gail suggested hopefully. "It's not as though he can stay completely away, being Richie's partner and all."

"He's not anymore. He left the unit."

"The unit? Not just Richie?"

Abby nodded. "They're transferring him to Englewood. He's got to hate me an awful lot to go to Englewood, Gail. That place is awful."

"I'm sure it wasn't just because of you, Abby. Did he get promoted?"

"It's a lateral move…but I guess it does have more advancement potential," Abby conceded reluctantly. "But still…Gang Enforcement? Did you know twelve CPD officers were killed in uniform last year?"

"Yes, I did."

"Right," Abby nodded. "Did you know that out of twelve, nine were from Gang Enforcement? That's seventy-five percent, Gail. And Englewood had more shootings of police officers last year than any other part of the city."

Gail smiled sadly. "I wish I knew what to say, Abby. Welcome to the world of being in love with a cop - with all the worrying and wondering that comes with it. There's not a day that your brother walks out that door that I don't worry about where he's going or who he'll run into that day or whether or not he's going to come home safely to me and our girls."

"Yeah, well, at least your cop's still speaking to you," Abby said. "Brody's putting himself in a dangerous job just to get away from me."

"Maybe he just wants to get away from Richie," Gail suggested.

"Maybe," Abby agreed. "I guess it doesn't matter anyway. Even if he had stayed, there's no way he would have forgiven me."

Gail sighed. "You have to stop being so hard on yourself, Abby. You made a mistake. You're human, it happens. It doesn't make it right, but it doesn't make you a bad person either."

"I know," Abby agreed. "It's just…it's so hard to be happy right now. I went to the doctor before I went to Brody's this afternoon and…"

"Is everything alright?"

"Fine," Abby assured her. "Six weeks, everything's as expected. I just…I was looking at one of those magazines in the waiting room, and all those women are so happy and smiley and content with having a baby…I don't feel those things, Gail. I'm scared out of my mind that I'm making a mistake. I've ruined the only good relationship I've ever had, and I can't repair it. What if I screw up with the baby too?"

Gail smiled and took Abby's hands in hers. "Abby, it's totally normal to be afraid. I was petrified when I had Ellen…heck, I was scared when I brought Susan home from the hospital. No one goes into parenthood _wanting_ to screw up their child, we all want to do the best that we can. Heck, I'd be worried if you _weren't_ scared to have this baby. But I've seen you with the girls, and with Donnie's kids…Abby, you're going to be a fantastic mother."

"I guess I just need more time for it to sink in," Abby agreed. "I still can't quite get my head around the fact that I'm actually having a baby."

"You're _what_?"

Abby and Gail both froze at the voice in the doorway, turning their heads slowly to face him.

"You're home early, honey," Gail said nervously.

Steve ignored her, staring straight at Abby. "Did I just hear you say that you're having a baby?"

"I…um…well, see…I…"

"Are you pregnant, Abby?"

Abby bit her lower lip nervously and looked down, unable to look her brother in the eye as she nodded slowly.

"Gail, give us a few minutes," Steve said, his jaw clenching slightly.

Gail sighed and looked between her husband and his sister. Nodding, she squeezed Abby's hand gently and stood up. On her way out of the room, she paused at Steve's side and placed a hand on his arm. "Go easy on her, Steve," she said quietly. "Your sister has been through hell the last couple of days."

Steve waited until he heard the door to their bedroom close at the end of the hall before he took a few steps into the room and sat down next to his sister on the couch.

"Really, Abby? A baby? What the hell were you thinking?"

"I didn't plan this, Steve," Abby protested defensively. "I was religious about my pills, I never missed one. It happened anyway. It's not like I just woke up one morning and though, hey, I'll get pregnant today and be a single mother."

"What do you mean, single mother?" Steve asked in confusion. "Is Brody not stepping up? Because I swear to God, I will kick his ass if he…"

Abby shook her head quickly. "It's…it's not his baby, Steve. It's Danny's."

"Danny Mitchell?"

"Exactly how many Danny's do you think I've slept with?"

"Good point. So what is he doing about this situation?"

Abby sighed. "Moving to California."

"What?"

"He got some dream job of his out there," Abby explained. "He…he said he doesn't want to be a part-time parent, he'll be too busy."

"Yeah, well, he should have thought about that before he went and got you pregnant," Steve retorted angrily.

"He said he'll pay child support," Abby said. "If…"

"If what?"

"He, uh…he wants a paternity test when the baby's born."

"That son of a bitch," Steve muttered, his fists clenched. "I'm going to kill him."

"Steve…"

"No, what right does he have to go making judgements about my baby sister? He barely even knows you, how dare he think you'd lie to him like that?"

"Steve, just leave him alone," Abby pleaded, the tears welling up in her eyes again. "He'll be gone in a few days, just let me handle this myself. I can do this. I can raise this baby alone."

Steve sighed as he looked at his sister - her disheveled hair, the bags under eyes, the tears on her cheeks. "Come here," he said softly, pulling her into his arms. "You're a Kowalski, Abby. There's no 'alone' in this family, even if you wanted it."

* * *

><p>An hour later, Steve gently tucked a blanket over his sister's shoulders as she lay sleeping on the couch before stepping into the kitchen and pulling out his cell phone.<p>

"We need to talk," he said quietly, careful not to wake either Abby in the living room or his girls in their bedroom down the hall.

_"Damn it, Steve, it's almost midnight,"_ Donnie groaned on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, I know that. It's important. Can you meet me at Richie's in half an hour?"

_"Can't it wait until morning?"_

"Abby's pregnant." There was a long pause on the other end of the line. "Donnie?"

_"I'll be there in fifteen minutes."_

Steve nodded as his brother quickly hung up the phone, slipping his cell phone back into his pocket and reached for the jacket he'd left on the table earlier.

"If you're going to kill him, please don't get caught."

Steve nearly dropped the jacket in surprise, whirling around to find his wife leaning against the door frame, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Jesus, Gail, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Sorry."

Steve nodded and glanced down at the jacket in his hands. "I, uh…I have to run out for a few minutes."

"I know." Gail sighed and shook her head. "Like I said…if you're going to kill him, please try not to get caught. I really don't feel like raising three kids on my own while you're serving twenty-five to life in maximum security."

Steve shook his head and kissed her on the cheek. "I love you too, sweetheart."

"Steve?"

Steve turned around once more with his hand on the doorknob.

"Be careful out there."

* * *

><p>Laura groaned at the sound of a loud knock at the door. "Richie," she hissed impatiently, rolling over in bed and poking her husband. "Richie, the door!"<p>

"Mmm…'s okay," Richie muttered, rolling away from Laura without opening his eyes.

"Fine," she grumbled, pulling off the covers and slipping on her bathrobe as she stepped out of bed. "Five months pregnant and you make me get out of bed at midnight to answer the damn door. Just you wait until we get to 2 A.M. bottle feedings, buddy."

She was still muttering to herself as she pulled open the apartment door, raising her eyebrows in annoyance at the sight of her two brothers-in-law standing in the hallway. "Alright, who's dead?"

Donnie frowned and glanced at Steve. "Um…no one's dead, Laura. We…"

"Then go away and call Richie in the morning."

"We need to talk to him, Laura."

"It's about Abby," Steve added quickly.

Laura frowned as her eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. "Fine," she sighed, stepping back to let them into the apartment and closing the door behind them. "Wait here, I'll go get him."

"Thanks, Laura. Really sorry to wake you like this," Steve said.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure." Laura waved her hand dismissively, walking past the two men into the bedroom. Yanking the covers off of Richie, she smirked as his eyes flashed open.

"Get up," she snapped. "Tweedledee and Tweedledum want a word. They're in the kitchen."

"What the…?" Richie groaned in confusion, stumbling out of bed and into the hall without really being quite sure who his wife was referring to.

"Dude, put on a shirt!" Steve exclaimed as Richie walked into the kitchen. "People have to eat in this room, you know."

Richie frowned and looked at his brothers. "Alright, which of you is Tweedledum?"

"What?"

"Never mind." Richie shook his head. "What the hell are you two doing here in the middle of the night, pissing off my pregnant, hormonal wife?"

"It was his idea," Donnie said, motioning to Steve.

"Sure, great, throw me under the bus, why don't you?" Steve groaned. "Trust me, if she had told me at a decent hour of the day, I would have called at a decent hour of the day."

"If who had told you what?" Richie asked.

"He thinks Abby's pregnant," Donnie explained.

"Dude, are you out of your mind? There's no way…no way is that possible."

"And yet, there she was when I came home tonight," Steve said. "Sitting on my couch, crying to my wife about the fact that she can't believe she's pregnant. And then the next thing I know, she's crying on my shoulder about the fact that Danny Mitchell's a jackass who's moving to California and leaving her to raise his kid on her own."

"Wait, it's Danny's baby?" Donnie asked in surprise. "Is she sure?"

"She seemed pretty sure."

"I'm going to kill him," Donnie muttered. "I told you Brody would have been better for her."

"Yeah, well, you always have to be right, don't you?" Richie snapped.

"I…"

"Hey! That's enough!" Steve interrupted impatiently. "This isn't about who's right, this is about Abby. Like it or not, it would appear that she's having a baby with a guy who has effectively walked out on her."

"So what do we do about it?" Donnie asked. "I don't suppose she'd appreciate us murdering him in the middle of the night."

"What if we do it in the daytime?" Steve asked, earning a sharp glare from both of his brothers.

"We need to talk to him," Richie said. "Danny's always seemed like a reasonable guy. Maybe she just caught him off guard with the news."

"You didn't see her crying tonight," Steve said. "If I see him, I'm killing him."

"No one is killing anyone."

The three brothers turned to find Laura standing in the doorway of the kitchen, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Honey, let us…"

"No," Laura interrupted. "I'm sick of this crap that's going on with you and Abby, Richie! Have the three of you learned _nothing_ from the last six weeks?"

"Um…"

"For God's sake, Abby is thirty-three years old, and you three treat her like she's some irrational teenager who needs you to protect her from the world! She's a grown woman, let her live her life the way she wants to live it." Laura sighed heavily and shook her head. "Don't you get it? That's why she hasn't spoken to you, Richie. The three of you need to back the hell off."

* * *

><p>"You sorry son of a bitch."<p>

Danny nearly dropped the box he was carrying out into the hallway of his apartment building, barely getting it onto the pile he was assembling for the movers before it slipped from his hands. He gulped as he looked up and saw the man walking down the hall toward him.

"Richie," he said nervously. "Hey."

"I ought to kick your ass right here," Richie said through gritted teeth.

"Is this about Abby?"

"No shit, this is about Abby," Richie snapped. "Where the hell do you get off, running out on her like this?"

"Hey now," Danny said defensively. "She's the one who wasn't interested in me, remember? I had no reason to stay here for her."

"_Had_. Now you've got a kid on the way, man."

"Maybe," Danny pointed out.

"What do you mean, _maybe_?"

"No offense, Richie, but Abby's no saint," Danny said. "What am I supposed to think with Abby jumping into bed with whoever…"

Danny didn't get to finish his thought as Richie's fist connected firmly with his jaw, knocking him straight to the ground.

"That would be my baby sister you're talking about," Richie snarled, shaking out his hand as he hovered above Danny. "If Abby says that's your baby, then that's your baby. Are we clear on that?"

Danny gulped and nodded as Richie grabbed his shirt and pulled him to his feet.

"Good. Now," Richie paused for a moment as he pushed Danny against the wall and pinned him there with his forearm against his throat. "Let's get one more thing straight. From now on, it's not about you, you pathetic bastard. It's about Abby, and it's about that baby you helped make. Whatever they need, they're gonna get. Right?" Richie frowned and pushed slightly against Danny's throat as he waited for an answer. "_Right_?"

"Ri…right." Danny nodded feebly.

"Good." Richie stepped back, releasing Danny from his hold. Glaring at Danny one more time, he flexed his hand slightly, shaking his head as he turned to leave. "Have a nice flight."


	9. Chapter 9

The following morning, Abby's heart was racing as she slowly opened the door to her parents' house and stepped inside. She'd hoped to have a little more time to get used to the idea before telling her parents, but she knew that now that Steve knew, it was only a matter of time until Donnie and Richie knew. And once the three Kowalski boys had a secret - especially one concerning their sister - it wouldn't be long before someone spilled the news to their parents. If there was one thing Abby was sure about, it was the fact that she needed to be the one to tell them.

She was fairly certain she hadn't even been this nervous when she'd had to tell her father that she'd joined Internal Affairs. She felt a little bit like she was fifteen years old again, and asking permission to go to prom with an older boy.

"Abby?" Sheila looked up from the stove as she entered the kitchen. "What a nice surprise, I wasn't expecting to see you today. Can you stay for lunch? I'm testing out some new side dishes for my Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow night."

"Sure, Mom," Abby said quietly.

Sheila frowned and turned the stove off. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just…" Abby hesitated. "Is Dad around?"

"He's out in the garage, finishing up the crib for Richie and Laura's Christmas present."

Abby nodded, remembering the beautiful handmade cribs her father had crafted for Donnie and Steve's children when Amy and Gail had each been pregnant for the first time. Don had taken great pride in the cribs - and in the grandchildren who had slept in them over the years. She wondered if her father would feel the same about a grandchild born under the current circumstances.

"Can you get him, Mom?" Abby asked hesitantly. "I, um…I really need to talk to you both."

Sheila immediately looked concerned. "Of course, sweetheart. Are you sure you're alright?"

Abby nodded and managed a half-smile for her mother.

"Alright," Sheila said anxiously, setting her apron on the counter. "Give me a minute to get him."

* * *

><p>"Are you sure she didn't say what she wanted to talk about?" Don asked as he followed his wife back into the house.<p>

Sheila nodded. "All she'd tell me was that she needed to talk to both of us. She seemed very serious, though…and nervous."

"It's always something with Abby, isn't it?"

Sheila smiled sadly as her husband held the back door open for her. "Look at it this way, Don. She's already gone and joined I.A. It's not like she can do that again."

Don frowned and shook his head as he shut the back door behind him. Whatever was going on with his daughter, he just hoped that it wouldn't put more of a damper on that weekend's holiday celebrations. He knew things would already be tense with Abby still not speaking to Richie. The last thing the Kowalski family needed was any more drama added to the mix before the year was up.

Don and Sheila found Abby in the living room, tucked into the corner of the couch with a photograph in her hands. Sheila smiled as she sat down beside her and immediately recognized the image.

"That's always been one of my favorites," she said, reaching out and taking the frame from Abby's hands. Slowly, she ran her fingers over the picture of herself, sitting up in a hospital bed with a tiny pink bundle in her arms, her three young sons on the bed next to her, clamoring for a look at their new sister. "All my babies together for the first time. Your father had to sneak your brothers in, they weren't allowed in the hospital back then. They thought they were too young."

Abby nodded, not looking directly at either of her parents.

"What's going on, sweetie?" Sheila asked gently.

"Um…you should probably sit down, Dad," Abby said nervously. Her parents exchanged a concerned look with one another, but her father dutifully took a seat in the overstuffed recliner near Abby.

"Okay, I'm sitting down," Don said. "What did you need to talk to your mother and I about?"

Abby let out a shaky breath and glanced nervously up at the ceiling.

"Whatever it is, Abby, you can tell us," Sheila assured her, casting a sharp warning glare at her husband, which she hoped told him to control his temper if it became necessary.

"I…I'm pregnant," Abby admitted quietly, nervously biting her lower lip before finally looking over at her father, who seemed to have paled four shades.

"You…you're having a baby?" Sheila repeated in disbelief.

Abby nodded. "Yeah. I'm having a baby."

"Oh, honey," Sheila sighed, immediately wrapping her arms around her daughter. "Have you been to the doctor yet? Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine, Mom," Abby assured her. "I've seen the doctor, he said everything looks normal so far. I'm only six weeks, so it's still really early."

"And have you…have you talked to John yet?" Sheila asked hesitantly. "I know you two haven't spoken much since…well, you know…but have you told him?"

Abby sighed and nodded.

"And?"

"Oh Mom." Abby bit her lip again to keep from crying. "It's not his baby."

Sheila gasped in surprise. "Oh Abby," she sighed, hugging her tightly. "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry. Have you spoken to Danny, then?"

Abby nodded. "I'm going to do this alone, Mom," she said, a quiet determination in her voice. "He doesn't want…well, I'm having this baby without him."

Sheila nodded as Abby turned toward her father, anxiously seeking his reaction. Don shook his head slightly, quickly standing up and walking out of the room without having said a single word since Abby's announcement.

"I disappointed him again," Abby said sadly. "He hates me."

"No, sweetheart, that's not it," Sheila said with a quick shake of her head, holding Abby's hands tightly in hers. "Just give him some time. You're his baby girl, Abby…it's never been easy for him to accept the fact that you've grown up."

* * *

><p>Abby frowned as she quietly shut the door to the garage and leaned back against it. A few feet away, her father was standing at his workbench, his hands resting on the railing for the nearly-completed crib sitting on the floor nearby. Don sighed and absentmindedly ran his hand across the wood when he heard the door click shut, but didn't look up.<p>

"You always hated your crib," Don said quietly as Abby took a few steps closer to him. "One time - you must have been about eighteen months old - I went to get you up from a nap and you weren't there. My first thought was that someone had kidnapped you right out from under us. I don't know that I've ever been so scared in my life until your mother found you curled up in Donnie's bed across the hall." Don shook his head slowly. "I still don't know how you managed to get out of that crib, but you'd decided you were big enough for a real bed like your brothers, and you weren't staying in that crib."

Abby's frowned deepened, wondering exactly what his point was as she came up beside him and rested her hand on his.

"You've always had to do things your own way, even as a baby," Don continued. "Never mind that you were too small for a bed, you climbed out of that crib every night for a month until we caved and got you a bed. I should have known then that we were in for quite a ride with you."

"I'm sorry, Dad," Abby whispered. "I know I'm a disappointment to you, I…"

Don shook his head and turned to look at her. "Where the hell would get an idea like that?"

Abby shot him a questioning stare.

"Okay, so maybe I haven't been as supportive as your mother of your decisions," Don conceded. "You've always had to do things your own way, and for some reason, they usually seem to be things I think are a bad idea. Every time I think there's nothing left you could do to surprise me, you come up with something else. And every time you do, I worry about you, Abby. I don't care how old you are, you're still my baby girl. But you know what else you always do?"

Abby shook her head.

"Succeed," Don said, a hint of pride in his voice. "You never have liked the easy route, Abby, and you've made a lot of choices I've questioned. But in the end, you always make it work…and you _always_ make me proud, Abby."

"Even when I joined I.A.?"

Don hesitated for a moment. "There've been moments."

Abby smiled, knowing that was as close as she'd probably ever get on that issue.

"I just don't want you to get hurt, Abby," Don said. "Your mother and I…we just want you to be happy. We usually want you to do that our way, of course, but you wouldn't be the woman we raised if you didn't do it your way."

"I am happy, Dad."

Don stared at her for a moment. "No, you're not. But it doesn't have anything to do with the baby, does it?"

Abby sighed and shook her head.

"Give him time," Don suggested. "If Brody really loves you, he'll come around."

"Do you really think so?"

Don smiled and hugged her. "If he doesn't, you've still got your family. We're not going anywhere…even Richie, whether you speak to him or not."

"Dad…"

Don stepped back and threw his hands up defensively. "That's all I have to say on it, Abby. Just don't ruin your mother's Christmas dinner and I'll let you figure it out on your own."

Abby shook her head and chuckled slightly. "You and your damn dinner."

"Hey!" Don interjected teasingly, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Watch your language. My grandbaby's listening."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** I know you are all eager to get some Abby/Brody time, but please bear with me...it is coming up in chapter 12, and it will be good! In the meantime, there are a few other things that need to happen first with the story.

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><p>"Who is it?" Abby called out from the kitchen as she walked toward her door on the morning of Christmas Eve.<p>

"It's Mackie!"

Abby smiled and pulled open the door. "Thank God you're back. How was New York?"

"Oh my God, I am _never_ leaving town again," Mackie announced as she hugged Abby and stepped into the apartment. "Really, Abby, I was gone for five days. And I come home and the whole world's upside down. Brody's transferred out of Richie's district, Danny's a jackass who's moving to California, and suddenly you're _pregnant_?"

Abby frowned. "Who told you all of that?"

"Oh, um…Donnie," Mackie admitted nervously.

"When did you talk to Donnie?"

"He kind of picked me up from the airport a few hours ago. We stopped for breakfast."

"Oh my God," Abby gasped. "I knew it! Mackie Phan, how long have you been dating my brother?"

Mackie blushed. "I don't know if we're officially dating, exactly. We're, uh, having fun…and I guess we'll see where that leads."

"You do know he's got three kids, right?"

"So?"

"No reason, I just thought I'd throw that out there." Abby shrugged. "So, do you think this could get serious?"

"I don't know. Maybe…eventually. We're taking things slow for now."

"Slow is good," Abby agreed. "The divorce was really hard on Donnie and getting hurt again would…"

"You think I'm going to hurt him?"

"Of course not! Not intentionally, anyway." Abby sighed and shook her head. "I don't know, Mackie, I just love you both so much and I'd hate to see either of you get hurt, let alone both of you at once. And God forbid something happens, I'd never want to have to choose my best friend and my big brother."

"Good Lord, Abby." Mackie rolled her eyes in annoyance. "we've been on three dates and you're already planning for our break up? Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"That's not what I'm saying, Mackie. It's just…look at what happened to Richie and Brody's relationship because I started dating Brody."

"That is a completely different situation and you know it," Mackie insisted. "You know the sort of crap luck I have with guys. You've met my ex-husband. I might finally have a good one interested in me, Abby - someone who's sweet and caring and has a real job and isn't a convicted felon. Can't you stop acting like Richie for a minute and let Donnie and I figure this out?"

"I am not acting like Richie!" Abby protested as Mackie shot her a look. "Okay, fine, maybe just a little. I'm sorry, Mackie…blame the hormones."

"Poor child isn't even here yet and he's already getting blamed for everything." Mackie smiled as she slipped onto one of Abby's barstools. "Okay, now sit down and tell me everything I missed. I know Donnie probably left all the good parts."

* * *

><p>Abby's hand froze on the oven door in her mother's kitchen that evening as she caught a glimpse of a reflection in the glass. Taking a deep breath, she turned around and busied herself with the dishes.<p>

"Are you ever going to look at me again?" Richie asked, leaning up against the counter and watching her.

Abby sighed and turned on the faucet at the sink, sticking a mixing bowl underneath the water.

"I miss you, Abby."

Abby frowned and shook her head, taking the bowl out of the sink and putting it into the dishwasher. "Yeah, well, I miss Brody. So you can call us even for missing people."

"He transferred out of the district this week, Abby."

"I know. He told me."

"You saw him?" Richie asked in surprise. "When?"

Abby shrugged, her back still to him. "A few days ago. I wanted to be the one to tell him about the baby. After everything I put him through, I thought he deserved at least that much."

Richie nodded. "Sure beats Donnie and Steve showing up at midnight to tell me."

"I didn't ask them to do that," Abby said angrily. "I didn't tell Donnie, and I wouldn't have told Steve if he hadn't been eavesdropping on my conversation with Gail."

"Would you have told me?"

Abby hesitated before nodding. "Eventually. You're still my brother, Richie."

Richie smiled, knowing that was at least a step forward from where they'd been. "You should probably know that I went to see Danny before he left town."

Abby's hands froze as she ran a whisk under the water. "You shouldn't have done that, Richie."

"Probably not," Richie agreed. "But I feel like this whole thing is my fault, Abby. I thought Danny was a good guy…I thought he was the _better_ guy for you. For him to just leave like that…"

Abby sighed and turned around to look at her brother. "What did you do to him?"

"Not much," Richie said. "We mostly talked."

Abby glanced down at his bruised hand. "What did you do to your hand?"

"What, this?" Richie held it up. "It's nothing, just an accident. Ran into a wall."

Abby frowned and shook her head as she turned back to the dishes. "If that wall was named Danny Mitchell, I hope you left a mark." She reached out and slowly pulled another dish into the sink. "But I'm still mad at you."

"I can live with that," Richie said, a more hopeful smile on his face as he turned and headed back into the living room.

* * *

><p>Abby glanced nervously up and down the dark hallway, smiling when she saw that the coast was clear. Carefully, she tiptoed down the stairs, past the living room and into the kitchen just as the grandfather clock in the hall was striking midnight.<p>

"Seriously?" she sighed at the sight of her brothers gathered around the table, guilty looks on their faces as they turned to face her. At the center of the table was one of the chocolate cakes she and her mother had made for their Christmas dinner, three slices sitting on the plates in front of her brothers. "Does it taste better when you're not supposed to be eating it?"

"Maybe," Donnie admitted guiltily. "Want a slice? I won't tell Mom."

Abby tried her very best to give them all stern looks, but after a few seconds of looking at their guilty faces, she burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Steve asked in confusion.

"You guys do know that Mom and I make an extra cake every year, right?" Abby asked as she grabbed the plate Donnie was holding out to her.

"Since when?" Richie asked.

"I don't know, since I was like eight," Abby said. "She knows you guys come down here every year and eat it, so she makes an extra one."

"Mom knows?" Donnie asked in surprise.

"Oh come on, you didn't really think she believed that the dog ate an entire chocolate cake every year, do you?" Abby shook her head. "You're starting early this year, though. You guys usually aren't down here until at least one."

"And you're not usually down here at all," Steve pointed out. "What gives?"

"I'm hungry," Abby said, taking another bite of the cake.

"She is eating for two," Donnie pointed out. "Plus, she didn't really eat dinner."

"Yeah, what was up with that?" Richie asked. "You barely touched your plate."

Abby shrugged. "I was concentrating."

"On what?"

"Not offending Mom by throwing up at the dinner table."

Steve groaned. "I am so glad Gail is past the morning sickness stage with this one."

"Yeah, about that…what's up with not telling us until she's three months pregnant?" Donnie asked. "You like keeping secrets?"

"We just couldn't find a good time to tell you," Steve said defensively. "Christmas Eve seemed like a good time. Of course, how was I to know that Abby here was going to steal the baby spotlight?"

"Hey, it's not like this was intentional," Abby pointed out, pausing at the sound of a knock at the front door.

"That'll be Amy," Donnie said, reluctantly standing up.

"Amy? What's she doing here?" Abby asked as Donnie left the room.

"Dropping the kids off," Richie said.

"I thought Donnie didn't get them until the twenty-sixth this year? He had Thanksgiving."

Steve shrugged. "You know how it goes with Amy when duty calls. Babies don't keep office hours and someone's got to deliver them. And hey, who cares how it happens as long as Donnie gets to spend Christmas with his kids?"

"True," Abby agreed. "Well, I guess the whole Kowalski family will be together for another Christmas."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Please note that this chapter jumps forward six months from the last one. We're moving into the second half of the story, so we're now basically done with most of the heavy, sad stuff...and it's time for the some of the fun romantic parts!

* * *

><p><em>Six months later...<em>

Richie hesitated as he stepped into the bar and looked around. He'd promised the other guys in his unit he'd stop by for a drink before heading home to Laura and the baby, but when he spotted a familiar figure sitting at the bar, he almost turned around and walked back out the door. After a few moments, though, he figured he couldn't possibly do any more damage than had already been done, so he slowly made his way across the crowded room and slipped onto the barstool next to his former partner.

He glanced over at Brody out of the corner of his eye, noting the way he was nursing the last of his beer, before he raised his hand and signaled for the bartender to bring two beers. For several minutes, the two men sat in awkward silence, sipping their beers and carefully avoiding looking at each other's reflections in the mirror on the other side of the bar.

"So, uh, how's Gang Enforcement treating you?" Richie finally asked.

Brody sighed and took a long swig of his beer. "You know that Greek myth about the guy who pisses off the gods and has to spend all of eternity pushing a giant rock up a mountain, only to have it roll back down every time he gets close to the top? That's Englewood in a nutshell. Every time we take a perp off the streets, the gangs seem to have two more waiting in the wings to replace him. I'm working my ass off every day, but it seems like there's never any progress to show for it."

"So basically, it's the best job you've ever had?"

Brody let out a quick laugh. "Yeah, something like that. I hear you're a dad now?"

Richie grinned and reached into his pocket, pulling a picture from his wallet and handing it to Brody. "His name's William, after my grandfather. He's a little over two months old now."

"He's cute," Brody said, handing the picture back to Richie. "He must take after Laura."

Richie laughed. "I sure hope so. You, uh, you ought to stop by the apartment sometime and meet him. I'm sure Laura would be thrilled to see you."

"I'll think about it."

Richie hesitated for a moment. "She misses you, you know."

"Laura?" Brody asked in confusion.

"Abby."

"Oh." Brody nodded slowly. "She knows where to find me."

Richie shook his head. "She thinks you hate her, Brody."

"What? Why would she think that?"

"Gee, I don't know." Richie rolled his eyes. "She cheated on you and now she's having that jackass's baby?"

"I thought Danny was your golden boy," Brody said derisively. "You should be thrilled she's having his baby."

Richie frowned and stared at him for a moment. "You don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

"Danny Mitchell moved to California and doesn't want anything to do with Abby's baby," Richie said, watching as Brody's jaw clenched at the thought. "He won't even talk to her these days, everything has to be through his lawyer. He's made a generous child support offer, but still…"

"Bastard," Brody muttered.

"My sentiments exactly," Richie agreed.

"How…how's she doing?" Brody asked hesitantly.

"Complaining loudly," Richie said. "Apparently being seven and a half months pregnant in June is not very comfortable. I've got a feeling July's going to be even worse - for all of us. I just thank God that Laura wasn't pregnant over the summer, and Steve's wife had her baby a few days ago, so we've only got one hormonal Kowalski woman to deal with now. I thought we were going to go insane when all three of them were pregnant at the same time."

"But she's okay? The baby's doing okay?"

Richie sighed and set his beer down. "Why don't you give her a call and find out for yourself? Take her to dinner. Unless…are you still mad at her? Because she's my sister, and I love her, but if you're still pissed, I can't say that I blame you…"

"I stopped being mad a while ago, Richie," Brody said. "At both of you. I just…I don't know if Abby and I might have already missed our chance."

* * *

><p>"Why the hell is it so hot out here?" Abby complained as she climbed out of the car and followed Lina toward a crime scene in the lobby of an apartment building the following morning.<p>

"Better you than me, that's all I have to say. You want to stop for ice cream on the way back to the office?" Lina asked in amusement.

"Yes."

Lina laughed and shook her head as she flashed her badge and introduced herself and Abby to the patrol officer guarding the scene.

"Hey, Detective!" he called out across the lobby. "Rat squad's here!"

Abby rolled her eyes. "Real original."

"Detectives Flores and Kowalski, it's been a while," Detective Rosene said as he approached them, pausing as he caught sight of Abby's pregnant belly. "What do you two do, switch off maternity leaves? Is Internal Affairs starting its own Little League team or something?"

"Everyone's a comedian," Lina said in annoyance. "Can we get down to business?"

"Sure," Detective Rosene said. "You go first."

Abby smiled sweetly. "That's not how this works and you know it, Detective."

"Fine," Rosene grumbled. "Come on, I'll give you the run-down. Our vic's name was Oscar Rosales. Known member of the Cobras street gang. Two bullets, one to the head, one to the heart."

"This was an execution," Lina said knowingly.

"That's our working assumption," Rosene agreed. "Rosales here was on a pretty rapid rise to the top, according to our informants. We're thinking maybe a rival gang thought they'd take him out before he got too powerful. We're waiting for ballistics to come back on a couple of shell casings my people collected, but beyond that, we're coming up dry. No fingerprints, no witnesses, no one heard a thing."

"What about the security cameras?" Abby asked, glancing up at the corner of the room.

"For show only," Rosene said, a hint of disgust in his voice. "This is Englewood, Kowalski, if there's a cheap way to do it, they'll find it. Now, do you two want to tell me what Internal Affairs is doing here? Or did you ladies just miss me?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Detective," Lina said. "Look, we're meeting someone at the Englewood station in forty-five minutes. Meet us there and we'll tell you what we can."

* * *

><p>"Alright, I'm listening," Detective Rosene said impatiently, taking a seat across the table from Abby and Lina in an interrogation room twenty minutes later. "What does I.A. want with my homicide case? Did someone file a complaint against one of my officers? Against me?"<p>

Abby shook her head. "There's been no complaint." Opening the file folder in front of her, she pulled out a picture of a uniformed CPD officer and slid it across the table to Detective Rosene. "Look familiar?"

"Wait a sec…that's Oscar Rosales," Rosene said in surprise. "You're telling me my vic went from CPD to a gang?"

Lina shook her head. "Oscar Rosales was never a CPD officer. That picture is of Luis Reynolds. Oscar Rosales doesn't exist."

Rosene frowned. "I'm afraid I'm not following."

"Luis Reynolds was an undercover CPD Gang Enforcement officer," Abby explained. "For the last two and a half years, he's been posing as Oscar Rosales to infiltrate the Cobras' leadership."

"And why couldn't you tell me this at the crime scene?"

"You know as well as we do that nothing's private on the streets. Reynolds isn't the only undercover officer in the Cobras and their rival gangs," Abby said. "As long as there's a chance that his murder had nothing to do with his undercover status, we would be risking the safety of those other officers by making the Cobras suspicious of their members."

"I guess I can see your point," Rosene agreed. "Of course, you've also just given me a pretty powerful motive for someone to kill the guy. I'm assuming it's too much to hope that you two are just sitting back and letting me take the lead on this?"

Lina smiled. "We'll be meeting with one of those undercover officers in about ten minutes. We'll let you know if he has anything useful to say."

* * *

><p>Abby groaned as she forced herself out of the chair in the interview room and carefully rubbed the small of her back. She still had about eight weeks left in her pregnancy and she was already certain she wasn't going to physically survive until her due date. She wasn't sure how Lina had done this three times and not gone insane.<p>

"I promise, it's worth it," Lina said as she gathered up her notes, as if reading Abby's mind. "You've just got to get through these last couple of weeks, and it will all be worth it."

"I'm going to hold you to that promise," Abby said. "Now let's get out of here, I'm starving. Can we stop at Mom's on the way back to the station? I'm craving a cupcake after we get that ice cream."

"Sure." Lina laughed as she followed Abby down the hall, nearly running straight into her back when she stopped suddenly. "Hey, what's…" Lina paused and followed Abby's gaze across the lobby to the group of officers walking in from the parking lot. "Oh."

Abby shook her head and turned away quickly. "Let's go out the other door."

"Oh, hell no." Lina reached out and placed her hand on Abby's arm to stop her from walking away. "You've been moping around for the last six months because of that guy. Go talk to him."

"He doesn't want to see me, Lina. I can't just…"

"Abby?"

Slowly, Abby turned around at the sound of the familiar male voice, forcing herself to breathe steadily as she moved.

"Brody," she said quietly, hearing Lina take a few steps backward to give them space. "Hi."

"Hi."

"It's good to see you," Abby said nervously, kicking herself internally for not having something better to say.

"Yeah. You too. You, uh, you look really good," Brody said, gesturing toward her stomach.

Abby shook her head quickly and smiled sadly. "I know I look fat and tired, it's okay. You don't have to lie."

"It's not a lie, you look beautiful," Brody said almost instinctively. "You've always looked beautiful to me."

Abby blushed slightly and Brody glanced nervously down at the tops of his shoes, afraid he'd already overstepped whatever boundaries she'd built between them.

"Do you, uh…are you liking Gang Enforcement?"

Brody shrugged and glanced around. "It's alright, I guess. The commute's pretty awful when I have a morning shift, but the people are nice enough and my new partner seems like a good enough guy."

"Well, that's good." Abby nodded as an awkward silence enveloped them for a few moments.

"I miss you, Abs," he said eventually, breaking the silence between them.

"I miss you too," Abby admitted quietly.

"Look, I don't want to overstep or anything, but…well, maybe we could grab dinner sometime? Or lunch, if you don't think dinner's a good idea. I…"

Abby smiled. "Dinner would be nice."

"Okay." Brody breathed a sigh of relief. "Um, maybe this weekend?"

"I have Saturday off," Abby offered.

"Saturday night, then."

"Just, uh, nothing too fancy, okay?" Abby asked. "I don't have a whole lot of clothes that fit right now, so I mostly live in my sweats when I'm not at work. Not that you really needed to know that, did you? I'm sure I can find something to wear wherever we go."

Brody smiled, relieved that he wasn't the only one who was nervous. "I'll tell you what, why don't you come over to my place? I'll cook, and you can wear whatever you want…even sweats."

"By cooking, I assume you mean ordering pizza?"

Brody grinned, a twinkle in his eyes. "You'll just have to come over and find out, Kowalski. Six o'clock?"

"Sure."

"Great." Brody glanced at his watch. "Listen, I've got to get back to work, but I'll see you Saturday?"

Abby nodded. "Six o'clock."

"Good." Brody hesitated for a moment before leaning over and kissing her quickly on the cheek. "It's a date, then."


	12. Chapter 12

Brody smiled nervously as he pulled open his front door at exactly six o'clock that Saturday evening. "Wow," he muttered at the sight of Abby standing in front of him in the red, knee-length dress she and Mackie had spent all morning shopping for. "You look…wow."

Abby blushed and shook her head, still not quite believing him as she stepped into the apartment and he closed the door behind her. "Thanks." She paused for a moment and turned toward the kitchen. "It doesn't smell like pizza delivery in here."

Brody smiled, grabbing her hand and leading her into the kitchen. Picking up a wooden spoon from the counter, he lifted the lid on one of the pots cluttering the stove and turned back to Abby.

"Close your eyes," he instructed.

"Excuse me?"

"Trust me, it's better this way. Just close them."

Abby frowned but complied, closing her eyes and waiting expectantly. Brody dipped the spoon into the pot quickly, holding his hand underneath it as he brought it to her lips. "Okay," he whispered. "Try this."

"Oh my God…" Abby let out a low moan of delight as she tasted the sauce. Brody pulled the spoon back and grinned as her eyes slowly fluttered open. "I think that just might be better than sex."

Brody frowned and stared at her skeptically.

"Okay, maybe not," Abby admitted with a smile. "But I'd put it a pretty close second. Seriously, Brody, that sauce is amazing."

Brody laughed. "I thought you might like that."

"Now's not the part where you tell me it's actually from a can, is it?"

Brody shook his head seriously. "We don't even joke about things like that in my family, Abby. My stepmother would tan my hide if she even heard a rumor about canned sauce being in my kitchen."

"So you really can cook," Abby said in surprise as she looked around at the well-stocked kitchen. In all the time she'd spent with Brody, she suddenly realized she'd never actually paid attention to much of his apartment beyond the bedroom.

"Yup," Brody said, somewhat amused at her surprise. "What, did you think my culinary skills consisted of collecting take-out menus?"

"No…well, maybe," Abby admitted. "I guess I just never thought about it. I mean, I don't think my dad and my brothers can even boil water."

Brody smiled and shook his head. "Well, it's good to know I've got a leg up on the Kowalski men in that respect."

* * *

><p>"That was amazing," Abby said as she set her plate in the sink and reached for the dish soap.<p>

"Nope." Brody shook his head as he took it out of her hands. "I'll get it in the morning, don't worry about it."

"But…"

"The dishes will still be just as dirty in the morning," Brody said. "Right now, I want to spend some time with you."

"What exactly did you have in mind?"

Brody smiled and took her hand, leading her into the center of the apartment. Letting go of her hand to walk over to his bookcase, he hit a button on his CD player and turned back around. "Remember this?"

Abby nodded and smiled as music filled the room. "Gladys."

Brody held out his hand. "Dance with me?"

Abby pretended to hesitate for a moment before putting her hand in his and letting him pull her into his arms. "Only because I love Gladys."

"Of course." Brody smiled as he wrapped his hands around her waist and her head came to rest on his shoulder.

They stayed that way for almost an hour, neither feeling the need to say much of anything as they swayed back and forth to the music. With his arms around her, Abby felt herself relax for the first time in months. The whole night felt surreal to her, as though she were in a dream she didn't want to wake up from. When her feet finally demanded that they take a break and he led her to the couch, she found that she didn't want him to let go - and, to her surprise, the thought that she might need him seemed more appealing than frightening.

"Hey Brody?" she whispered hesitantly, leaning back against his chest.

"Hmm?"

"I think we need to talk."

Brody sighed and nodded. "Yeah, we probably do."

"I just…I don't understand what we're doing here," Abby admitted. "You should hate me, Brody."

Brody shook his head and carefully moved so that they were face to face. "I could never hate you, Abby. You and Danny…that hurt me, it made me mad, but I love you, Abby. Nothing could ever change that."

"Are you still mad?" Abby asked nervously.

"No." Brody reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Do I wish things were different? Of course I do. But we can't change what happened, Abby. All we can control is what we do moving forward."

"That's very philosophical of you."

Brody smiled. "Well, my sister's a shrink. I guess something finally wore off on me."

"Did you…did you tell her about me?" Abby hesitated again. "About what I did?"

Brody shook his head. "She knows there's a girl out here that I'm in love with. That's all she needed to know. The rest is between us."

Abby sighed. "Except the baby kind of makes it obvious. How can you be so nice to me when every time you look at me, it's right there that I'm having Danny's baby?"

"Is that what you see? That this is Danny's baby?" Brody hesitated and rested a hand on her stomach, smiling when the baby kicked it almost immediately. "Because what I see is that you're having _your_ baby. If Danny had wanted to be a part of this child, he wouldn't be in California. How could I not love a child that's a part of you?"

"Do you really mean that?"

Brody nodded. "Abby, I'd ask you to marry me right now if I didn't think it would scare you away. But it probably would, so I'll wait as long as it takes for you to not be scared. All I need to know is that you want this too."

"I do," Abby whispered through her tears, leaning forward to kiss him gently. Brody smiled and pulled her just a little bit closer, her arms wrapping around his neck as she leaned into him. "I love you, John."

* * *

><p>Abby sighed happily into the pillow as she slowly opened her eyes the next morning. Her eyes widened as she realized where she was, quickly glancing down at her clothes and breathing a sigh of relief when she realized that she was still fully clothed in the same outfit she'd been wearing the night before.<p>

With a slight groan, she sat up and looked around. The sun was streaming in through the windows of Brody's bedroom, indicating that she had slept much later than she had in months. She smiled at the pillow and blanket she saw piled on the couch in the other room, remembering the way Brody had insisted it was too late for her to go home, sensing her hesitation and insisting that he would take the couch.

Easing her way out of bed, it didn't take long for her to identify the sounds of someone moving about in the kitchen. Walking around the corner toward the kitchen, she leaned against the wall for a moment, watching Brody carefully flip pancakes on a griddle. Turning around, he smiled broadly at her.

"Morning, sleepy-head."

"Do you cook like this every day?" Abby asked curiously as she walked into the kitchen.

Brody shook his head as he took the pancakes off the griddle and piled them onto two plates. "Hardly ever, actually. I don't like to cook for just me, but I don't usually have anyone else to cook for. It's kind of nice to have that for a change."

"How did you learn to cook like this?" Abby asked, taking the plate he offered her and carrying it to the table. "And don't tell me you just read a cookbook, because I've read a lot of cookbooks and I can't cook like this."

Brody laughed as he followed her out of the kitchen. "You know how you did a lot of typically boy stuff when you were growing up? Football, wrestling with your brothers, things like that?"

"I had three brothers, I had to," Abby said defensively. "If I didn't do that stuff, I wouldn't have had anyone to play with half the time."

"Exactly. You grew up with three brothers; I grew up with five sisters."

Abby nearly choked on her pancake. "_Five_? You mean your mother had six children?"

Brody shook his head. "My parents divorced when I was three. I'm the only child they had together. Mom had two daughters with her second husband; Dad had three daughters with his second wife."

"What was that like?"

"It wasn't too bad." Brody shrugged. "I hung out with the guys at school, played football, all of that…and then I'd go home and have tea parties and cooking lessons."

Abby burst out laughing.

"What?"

"I'm sorry," she gasped, trying to control her laughter. "I just have this mental of image of a teenage you sitting in one of those little pink chairs, with a sparkly tiara and a tiny plastic teacup…"

"Yeah, well, that's pretty much how it was." Brody grinned. "I think my parents are amazed I haven't needed therapy yet."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** This chapter is a little shorter than usual, but it sets the stage for the next one, which is fairly long, so I thought it was best to keep them separate. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p>Later that evening, Abby glanced up and nodded as Donnie sat down next to her on the bench by the fire pit on her rooftop.<p>

"So." Don took a sip of the beer he'd brought up with him and turned to her. "To what do I owe this invitation?"

"What? I can't ask my big brother over to hang out without an ulterior motive?" Abby asked innocently, resting her hand on top of her swollen stomach. "Maybe the baby and I missed you."

"Maybe," Donnie agreed skeptically. "But the baby didn't make the phone call and you are a terrible liar. So what's up?"

"I had dinner with Brody last night," Abby admitted.

"I see." Donnie nodded slowly, waiting for Abby to indicate whether that was a good thing or not.

"I think he wants to marry me."

Donnie choked on his beer for a moment. "What?"

"He said he would ask me to marry him right now if he didn't think it would scare me away."

"Wow." Donnie leaned back against the bench. "Well…aren't you still in love with him?"

"Yes," Abby admitted. "But that's not the point."

"And what is the point?"

"This." Abby pointed to her stomach. "I can't ask him to accept someone else's kid…especially not when that someone else is the man I cheated on him with."

"Did Brody say he had a problem with the baby?"

Abby shook her head. "No."

"Did he say anything about the baby?"

Abby nodded, smiling as she remembered his words. "He said that the way he saw it, this was my baby and that he couldn't not love a baby that was part of me."

Donnie smiled and let out a low whistle of approval. "You're right, Abby, you do have a problem."

"I do?"

"Oh, a big one," Donnie agreed with a quick nod. "You, baby sister, are dangerously close to being happier than you have ever been in your life."

"I'm being serious here, Donnie," Abby scolded.

"So am I. Did you have a good time last night?"

"Yes."

"And do you think Brody could make you happy?"

"Yes," Abby admitted.

"Well, that's why this freaks you out," Donnie said. "You're terrified of letting yourself be that happy, Abby."

"I am not!" Abby protested.

"I'm no Dr. Phil, but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say you don't think you deserve to be that happy," Donnie continued. "Or you've got some crazy idea about Brody deserving someone better than you."

"He does."

Donnie sighed, knowing he'd finally hit the nail on the head. "Abby, I think Brody's forgiven you for sleeping with Danny."

"So?"

"So don't you think it's time that you forgave yourself?" Donnie set his beer down and looked closely at his sister. "You're not a bad person, Abby. You're human, and you made a mistake. That doesn't mean that you don't deserve to be happy, and it doesn't mean that there's anyone better for Brody out there."

"But…"

"No buts." Donnie wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I'm not saying you have to marry Brody, but if you're in love with him, don't push him away just because you think it's better for him. He's a grown man, Abby. Let him decide what's best for him. And if he happens to decide that that's you…well, then he's one smart guy."

* * *

><p>"Well?" Lina asked expectantly when Abby walked into the office the next morning.<p>

"Well what?"

Lina rolled her eyes. "Don't play dumb, Kowalski, it doesn't suit you. Dinner? Saturday night? You, Brody? How'd it go?"

Abby smiled coyly. "It was…nice."

"Nice?" Lina asked skeptically. "I listen to you whine about how much you miss this guy for _six_ months, and all I get is _nice_?"

"Well, maybe nice isn't the right word," Abby admitted. "It was enjoyable. Not awkward, like I was afraid it might be. It was…fun. And sweet and romantic and…and absolutely perfect."

"So is this _finally_ a relationship now?"

Abby grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I think it is."

"Oh, thank God," Lina sighed. "Now maybe we can get some work done around here."

"Hey!"

Lina laughed and shook her head. "I'm happy for you, Abby."

"Thank you. I…"

"Flores, Kowalski," Lieutenant Papadol interrupted, walking up to their desks with a file in his hand. "I need you two to head back over to Englewood today. Got a complaint of excessive force by a patrol cop last night."

Lina took the file and frowned. "The guy punched an unarmed teenager?"

"That's what the family's claiming," Papadol confirmed. "The cop's practically a rookie, only been on the streets about eight months, but he's got a stellar record. Figure out if there's something else going on."

* * *

><p>Abby sighed as she and Lina walked out of the interrogation room later that morning. "Did that guy seem excessively tense to you?"<p>

"If you'd punched an unarmed kid, wouldn't you be tense?"

Abby frowned. "Good point."

"You think we're missing something," Lina said knowingly.

"I don't know," Abby admitted. "It just feels off, you know? Why did hit the kid? What set him off?"

"You want to dig deeper before we file our report?"

Abby shrugged. "I don't know. I…"

"Abby."

Abby smiled at the sound of the familiar voice and turned around quickly. "Brody," she said in surprise, hugging him quickly. "What are you doing here?"

"What's going to happen to Matt?"

Abby sighed and glanced over her shoulder at Lina, who simply shrugged. "You know I can't discuss an active case, Brody."

Brody frowned but nodded. "He's a good cop, Abby. He doesn't deserve to lose his job over this."

"A good cop who punched an unarmed teenager in the street?" Lina asked skeptically.

Brody sighed in frustration. "I'm not saying he doesn't need help. I'm just saying he doesn't deserve to lose his job over something that's not his fault."

"He needs help for what exactly?" Abby asked.

"I'm pretty sure he's got PTSD," Brody said. "He needs counseling, therapy. He doesn't need to lose his job."

"We'll keep that in mind."

Brody looked like he wanted to say something else, but simply nodded. "I'll see you tonight?"

"I'll be there," Abby confirmed, smiling as he kissed her on the cheek before walking away.

"You're seeing him again tonight?" Lina asked with a knowing smirk.

"Shut up," Abby snapped playfully. "Can we focus on the case?"

"Your boyfriend there might have a point," Lina said. "According to his record, Matt McCarthy was in the Army for six years, and did two tours in Iraq. He was honorably discharged about two years ago."

"You think we should call Dr. Alexander?"

Lina shrugged. "Can't hurt, I guess. Let's see what she has to say."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** As far as I know, the only background we have on Brody from the show is that he and Richie were partners for three years. So I'm adding a little bit of background for our favorite guy :) I hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p>"You were right, you know," Abby said that evening as she placed her dishes in the sink in her kitchen.<p>

"About what?" Brody asked curiously, following her to the sink with his dishes in his hands.

"Matt McCarthy has post traumatic stress disorder," Abby said. "Dr. Alexander said it's probably been coming on for a while now. He's probably been a ticking time bomb from the moment he got discharged from the Army."

"What's going to happen to him?"

"Well, we have to put a formal reprimand in his file for hitting the kid, there's no getting around that. But after that, he'll go on medical leave and get the help he needs. Assuming he's eventually cleared by the doctors, he'll have his job waiting for him with the CPD when he's ready."

"Good," Brody said, nodding slowly as he grabbed a beer from Abby's refrigerator and handing her a water bottle. "He's a good cop, he deserves another chance."

"It just amazes me," Abby said, following Brody to the couch and settling in next to him.

"What does?"

"That no one caught it earlier. He was discharged from the Army two years ago. Why didn't they catch it then? Or the VA, don't they have support groups for returning veterans? Why didn't someone catch it there?"

Brody sighed and took a long sip of his beer. "They don't look for it when you get back, not like they should," he said. "When you come back from a deployment, they'll clap you on the back, maybe hand you a couple of medals and call you a hero…and then they move on to the next guy. The VA tries to do what they can, but they can't force people to go to support groups or therapy once they're civilians again."

"How do you know that?"

Brody shrugged. "I just do."

Abby frowned and looked at him in confusion. "Brody…"

"I just know it, okay?" Brody snapped impatiently.

Abby recoiled slightly. "It was just a question," she said, her voice laced with hurt.

"I'm sorry," Brody sighed, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his legs. "I didn't mean to snap at you."

"What's going on, John?" Abby asked gently, resting her hand on his shoulder. "What aren't you telling me?"

"I know what Matt's going through," he admitted quietly. "I've lived it too."

"You've lived what?" Abby asked in confusion.

Brody took another long swig of his beer and hesitated slightly. "When I was eighteen, I enlisted in the Marine Corps," he explained. "I guess you could say I was lacking direction at that point. A few months after I graduated high school, my dad gave me an ultimatum - start community college, join the military or hit the road and fend for myself. I enlisted three days later. My whole life up to that point had been chaotic, with my parents' divorce and having two homes and two sets of sisters and all of it…I loved the structure of the Corps. I was infantry, so I spent most of my first couple of years doing training exercises, war games, things like that. And then 9/11 happened and all of a sudden, the world was upside down…in September, I was in California working on a training program, and by the end of the year, my whole unit was in Kandahar, pouring sand out of our boots and praying no one blew us up while we slept each night."

"How long were you over there?"

"The first deployment was six months. I did a second in Afghanistan that was a full year, and then I did ten months in Iraq." Brody paused and shut his eyes while he shook his head. "That was the one that really got me. We were right in the thick of it in Fallujah that year. I can still see it like I was just there yesterday. If I think about it, I can smell the mixture of blood and dirt in the air, still feel the heat of the sun even in December…it's like living a nightmare over and over and over inside my head. I lost my best friend in that damned city. We'd made it through boot camp together, the first tour in Afghanistan, all of it. I'd been the best man at his wedding a month before we deployed. That morning, he'd been talking about having a kid when he got back home. And then one minute he's next to me, and the next he's on the ground, gasping for air." Brody set his beer down and turned his palms up, his voice cracking slightly. "When I have nightmares, I can still feel his blood seeping through my fingers as I tried to hold his wound. The look in his eyes when he realized that was it…that's another thing I'll never forget, as much as I might want to."

"Brody…" Abby sighed, wrapping her arm around his shoulders, completely at a loss for words.

"They gave me the silver star for carrying him out under enemy fire," Brody continued. "I wanted to throw it in their faces when they pinned it on me. It wasn't fair…a few inches to the left, and Mike would have been the one getting a medal pinned on his chest. He would have been the one sitting in my mother's living room, telling her how sorry he was, how he'd tried to save me…instead of me telling his wife." Brody let out another heavy sigh. "When my enlistment term was up, I didn't re-up that time around. I was a mess when I got out…I moved back in with my dad, I was drinking a lot, couldn't hold a job for long…I barely ate, I hardly ever slept…I don't know how I lived for a whole year like that, really."

"What happened?"

"Olivia - that's the sister who's a shrink now - she was in her second year of medical school, and she decided she'd had enough. She came home to visit one weekend, dragged my ass down to the VA hospital and sat with me until they'd referred me to a therapist who specialized in veterans' issues. Then, of course, just to be even more of a pain in the ass, she told the whole family and arranged them into a schedule to make sure I never missed an appointment while she was gone. She probably saved my life, to be honest."

"Do you still see a therapist?" Abby asked hesitantly.

Brody nodded. "Once a week, every week."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Abby asked in confusion. "I didn't even know you were in the Marines. Were you trying to hide it?"

Brody shook his head. "I don't talk about it, Abby. If I can avoid it, I just don't tell people. If they know I was deployed, they want to talk about it, and explaining why I don't is more of a hassle than it's worth."

"Does Richie know?"

Brody shook his head silently.

"Well, I'm glad you told me," Abby said, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You are?" Brody frowned in surprise and turned to look at her. "Because I thought…"

"What? Did you think I'd think less of you because you struggle with the fact that your best friend died in your arms?" Abby smiled reassuringly. "John, I can't even pretend to know what it was like for you over there, but no one in their right mind would blame you for being haunted by it. I certainly don't. If anything, it just makes me love you more."

"You're pretty amazing, you know that?" Brody asked, resting his hand against her check and kissing her gently. "How did I get so lucky?"

* * *

><p>Abby groaned as she cracked open an eyelid and saw the morning sun streaming into the apartment. Leaning back slightly, she smiled as she snuggled up against Brody's bare chest.<p>

"Morning," he whispered, leaning over and kissing her cheek as his arm wrapped around her waist and came to rest on her belly.

"Mmmm," Abby sighed. "I could get used to waking up to this."

"Waking up to what?"

Abby smiled. "To you."

"Ah, so the master plan is working then," Brody said with a smirk. "Now all I have to do is convince you to call in sick and spend the whole day right here in bed with me."

Abby rolled her eyes. "Very funny. Lina knows we had a date last night. You really think she wouldn't put two and two together?"

"Who cares?"

"I do," Abby said with a sigh, slowly easing herself out of his arms and standing up. "I'm going to be late."

"You're thirty-three weeks pregnant, I think they'll cut you some slack," Brody pointed out, watching in amusement as Abby grabbed her clean clothes from the closet and threw them on. Turning around, she frowned as she stared at the shoes on the floor by the bed.

"Damn it," she muttered.

"What?"

"Don't laugh at me."

"I would never laugh at you," Brody assured her. "What's wrong?"

"I, uh…I don't think I can bend all the way down to pick those up."

Brody bit his lip hard to keep from laughing. "Okay," he finally said. "Well, that's a real shame. Going to work barefoot is going to be hard to explain."

"Oh for crying out loud, don't make me beg," Abby pleaded. "Just come over here and pick them up for me. Please?"

Brody grinned and hopped out of bed, quickly scooping up the shoes and handing them to her with a flourish. "At your service, my dear."

Abby took the shoes and hesitated for a moment, staring at them and back down at the ground. Brody thought she looked as though she might cry.

"Do you need me to put them on too?"

"I could do it yesterday," Abby pouted, handing him the shoes and flopping back on the bed. "This is ridiculous."

"This is normal," Brody assured her, kneeling in front of her and lifting her left foot.

"And what am I supposed to do tonight when I need to take them off?" Abby asked as Brody laced up her shoe.

"Call me."

"And in the morning? And tomorrow night?" Abby sighed in frustration, the tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm completely helpless."

Brody bit back a laugh as he picked up the second shoe. "You are not helpless, Abby."

"I shouldn't have to call my boyfriend and make him come over just to put on a pair of shoes," Abby insisted.

Brody grinned. "What if I were already here?"

"But you're not here all the time."

"I could be."

Abby frowned. "What are you saying? You want to move in here?"

"Well, not _here_ specifically," he said. "You're the one who said you were going to have to get a new place, right? One with a bedroom for the baby?"

"So?"

"So what if we got one together? Not my place, not your place…_our _place. Just the three of us."

"Three?"

Brody nodded. "You, me and the baby. _Our_ home."

"Don't you think we're moving a little fast?" Abby asked in concern.

"Probably," Brody agreed. "But I don't really care."

"Well…" Abby hesitated for a moment, remembering Donnie's words of encouragement from the weekend. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to at least look around at a few places."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** So, I predicted this story would be 10-15 chapters...but since we're now at Chapter 15 and we've clearly got a bit more to go, I guess I missed the mark on that one :)

* * *

><p>"This place looks really nice," Abby commented as she and Brody stood in front of a downtown apartment building that Saturday morning.<p>

"You sound surprised. I told you Jessica was a good realtor."

"No, I didn't mean it that way," Abby insisted. "I just…I don't know, is she sure that this is in our price range?"

"Trust me, Abby, she wouldn't show us a place we couldn't afford." Brody glanced down at his watch and looked up and down the street. "She should be here any minute. She has a tendency to be at least ten minutes late to everything, if not more."

"You shouldn't exaggerate," Abby cautioned him.

"Abby, she's my sister and I love her, but Jessica couldn't be on time to save her life…and that's not an exaggeration. She was twenty-five minutes late for her own wedding."

"She was not!"

Brody laughed and shook his head. "I think his side of the church thought she was standing him up at the altar. We all knew she was coming, but I guess no one warned them about Jessie."

"Did you warn her about me?" Abby asked nervously.

"No, I told her about you," Brody said. "What would I need to warn her about?"

"Um…this…" Abby pointed to her stomach. "Brody, you can't introduce me to your family without telling them I'm having a baby."

"Relax, Abby," Brody said. "She knows you're having a baby."

"Oh," Abby nodded. "And she didn't think it was…I don't know…"

"She thinks it's great, Abby," Brody assured her.

"But…"

"I know you're used to the Kowalski brothers," Brody continued. "But my sisters aren't quite in the same league. Don't get me wrong, it's not that they don't care, and they'll interfere and make their opinions known if they think it's absolutely necessary…but mostly, we just let each other live our own lives. As long as I'm happy, they'll love you. And I'm happy, Abby."

Abby smiled and kissed him quickly. "Me too," she said. "Okay, so I just don't want to mess this up…Jessica is your mother's daughter?"

Brody nodded. "Olivia and Jessica are Mom's daughters with my stepdad. My dad was traveling a lot, so I probably spent more time with Jack when I was growing up than I did with my own dad. He's a pretty great guy. You'll like him."

"I'm not meeting him today too, am I?" Abby asked, her eyes wide in concern.

Brody shook his head. "No. I promise, it's just Jessica today, and just as our realtor. Okay?"

Abby nodded.

"Good, because here she comes." Brody grinned as a tall brunette in casual gray slacks and a bright blue blouse hurried down the block toward them.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," she said, slightly out of breath as she hugged Brody.

"Don't worry about it," Brody said, smiling as he kissed her cheek before pulling back. "Abby, this is my sister, Jessica Sinclair. Jessie, this is Abby Kowalski."

Abby's stomach was in knots as she held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you," she said nervously.

Jessica grinned, ignoring Abby's outstretched hand and pulling her into a hug. "I am so happy to finally get to meet you, Abby. My brother can't stop talking about you." Still smiling, she pulled back and winked at Brody. "So, should we get started? We've got a lot of apartments to get through today."

* * *

><p>"Hey Abs, check out the view from these windows!"<p>

Abby looked around the pristine kitchen once more before heading into the living room of the fifth apartment they'd been in. Brody and Jessica were standing by the huge wall of windows.

"Is that…oh my God," Abby gasped with a grin as she walked up next to them. "We can see Soldier Field from here?"

"Forget the TV, I'll get you a pair of binoculars and you can watch the Bears from the living room couch," Brody teased. "Think how much money we'll save on cable."

Abby laughed as she smacked him playfully on the arm. "You think you're so funny, don't you?"

"Only because I am." Brody grinned as Abby shook her head and leaned back against his chest. Wrapping his arms around her from behind, he kissed her cheek. "So, do we have a winner?"

Abby nodded. "This place is perfect."

Brody smiled and turned his head toward his sister, who had taken a few steps back to give the pair some space. "How quickly can we get a lease drawn up, Jessie?"

"Consider it done."

* * *

><p>Jessica sighed and set down her cup of coffee as she and Abby sat at a table in the corner of the deli down the street from the apartment, waiting for Brody to return from the counter with their lunches. "You know," she said quietly. "It's been a long time since I've seen my brother smile like he does with you."<p>

"Really?" Abby asked disbelievingly.

"I never thought I'd see it," Jessica said. "He hasn't introduced any of us to a girlfriend since he was in high school. I honestly never thought I'd see the day he wanted to settle down and be a family man. I can't wait to see him as a father."

"Oh, um…I…" Abby hesitated nervously and rested her hand on her stomach.

Jessica smiled knowingly and shook her head. "It's okay, Abby. I know John isn't your baby's father, at least not biologically. But I know my brother pretty well…he's serious about you, which means he's serious about loving that baby too. And in my book, that makes him a father, so if you're going to do this, you should know that you're not just getting him, you're getting a whole family that's going to love that baby…and you."

"That's very sweet of you," Abby said. "I'm very lucky to have your brother in my life."

"I know." Jessica shrugged and smiled as she took another sip of her coffee. "Sorry…you're talking to a rather biased sister, so I happen to think he's pretty great."

"Well, I agree."

Jessica nodded. "In that case, I think you're going to love being part of our crazy family."


	16. Chapter 16

Abby sighed as she looked around at the stacks of boxes cluttering her apartment. It was hard for her to believe that it was all happening so quickly. She and Brody seen the apartment on a Saturday, signed the lease first thing Monday morning, and given notice to their landlords that same day. Now, a week later, her life was packed into a couple dozen boxes, waiting for her father and brothers to come move them.

"So you're really doing this thing."

Abby turned around and nodded at Donnie, who was leaning against the door frame. "Looks that way."

"I can't believe you're giving this place up," Donnie said as he looked around at the boxes. "I love this apartment."

"So do I. But I can't raise a baby in a one bedroom apartment, Donnie."

"I guess not," he agreed reluctantly. "Still, I'm going to miss that rooftop. Are you sure the new place doesn't have one of those?"

"Sorry…it does have great views, though. You can see the lake, Soldier Field…it's right on Lake Shore Drive. Plus, it's on the fourth floor, so I don't have to go anywhere near an elevator to get those views."

Donnie laughed. "How exactly are you and Brody able to afford a place on Lake Shore Drive? You got a secret second job I don't know about?"

"Brody's sister happens to be an excellent negotiator, and the landlord owes her for a few tenants she brought him at another building," Abby said. "Apparently sometimes it can be beneficial to have siblings who don't all have the same job you do."

"Oh? And what else can Brody's sisters do for you that your brothers can't?"

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Abby teased, patting his cheek with her hand. "You know I'll always love you best, big brother."

"I am not jealous of a bunch of women," Donnie insisted.

"Sure you're not," Abby laughed.

"Besides," Donnie said slowly. "I'm not believing that you're giving up this relationship drama stuff until I see a ring on your finger. Has he asked yet?"

Abby shook her head.

"Would you say yes if he did?"

Abby sighed. "I don't know," she admitted.

"You're moving in with him, Abby," Donnie pointed out. "You're meeting his family. He's bonding with the baby. If you're not serious about this relationship…"

"I am!" Abby insisted. "I just…it's all so fast, Donnie. I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing for the baby."

"What do you mean?"

"He wants to adopt the baby, Donnie. He wants us to be a family."

Donnie smiled. "Abby, that sounds great. Isn't that what you want?"

Abby nodded. "I'm just so confused. I think I always thought that when the time came, Danny would change his mind."

"Danny?" Donnie asked angrily. "You're confused because of that coward?"

"I just…" Abby hesitated, her voice cracking slightly as her eyes shone with unshed tears. "I love this baby so much, and I don't understand how he doesn't feel the same way. I've been sending him updates, the ultrasound images, even a DVD of the last ultrasound we did."

"Abby…"

"I sent him a paternity release last week," Abby admitted. "He sent it back the next day. Signed. He didn't even ask why."

"I'm not seeing what the problem is, Abby."

"How do I explain it to the baby?" Abby asked. "How do I tell my child that its father didn't want it?"

Donnie sighed. "You don't."

"You want me to lie?"

"I didn't say that," Donnie said. "When I found out that Dad wasn't my biological father…I thought my world was turning upside down for a while there. But you know what I realized? It doesn't matter, not really. I mean, what do we want for our kids? We want them to grow up with two parents who love them unconditionally. I had that. Your baby will have that. Who cares what the DNA says? If Danny doesn't want to be a part of that kid's life, it's his loss, not yours. And if you love Brody, and Brody wants to raise that baby, don't stand in the way of your own happiness."

"You think so?"

"I know so," Donnie assured her. "Just stop over-thinking it, Abby. You deserve to be happy."

Abby smiled and hugged her brother. "Thanks."

"That's what brothers are for," Donnie said. "Now, about all these boxes…"

Abby frowned as her cell phone began to ring. Glancing down at it, she shook her head apologetically. "It's work, I have to take it."

Donnie watched as Abby stepped away for a moment, her face expressionless as she nodded and spoke quietly into the phone.

"I'm sorry, Donnie, I've got to go," she said apologetically, slipping the phone back into her pocket. "We've got an officer-involved shooting. Dad and Steve and Richie should be here soon to help with the boxes."

* * *

><p>"You have got to be kidding me."<p>

Lina shook her head and sighed as Abby stared at her in shock. "Sorry, Abby. The shooting was on the forty-first floor."

Abby groaned and looked around the lobby, her gaze settling on the entrance to the stairwell on the other side of the room. "Fine," she grumbled. "You'd better give me a head start on this one."

Lina raised her eyebrows and stared skeptically at her partner. "You're not seriously going to climb those stairs."

"Well, I'm certainly not about to get in an elevator," Abby argued.

"You're thirty-four and a half weeks pregnant, Abby. There is no way in hell you are climbing forty-one flights of stairs."

"Are you planning on bringing the crime scene down to me?" Abby asked. "Because that's really the only other alternative."

"No, the other alternative is that you get over this ridiculous fear of yours and get in the elevator."

"Not happening."

"Abby…"

"I'll be fine, Lina. I'm good at stairs, remember?"

"Absolutely not." Lina shook her head. "I can't make you get on that elevator, but you are not climbing that many stairs. So either you come up in the elevator, or you wait down here. And don't think I won't have those officers handcuff you to a chair if you try to get to those stairs."

Abby frowned and pursed her lips as she stared at Lina and then at the elevator behind her. "Fine," she said. "But you'd better take damn good notes up there."

* * *

><p>"Um, Detective Flores?"<p>

Lina glanced up from her notepad as the young officer walked into the room. "What is it?"

"One of our guys just radioed up from the lobby, ma'am," the officer said. "He said to tell you something about your partner taking the stairs, and they couldn't stop her. He said they're sorry."

Lina sighed and nodded. "Did he say when she left?"

"It's been about fifteen minutes," the officer said.

"Alright." Lina took off her gloves, tucking them into her pocket as she walked past the officer and into the hallway. "Which way is the stairwell?"

"Second door on the left, ma'am."

Lina quickly made her way down the hall and pushed open the door to the stairwell. "I am so going to kill that girl," she muttered to herself as she started making her way down the stairs.

When she came into view of the landing on the thirty-sixth floor, her stopped in her chest for a moment. "Abby!" she called out, quickly running down the remaining stairs to reach her partner, who was gripping the railing, doubled over with her free hand on her stomach, a frightening trail of red running down her legs. "Abby?"

"I…I think my water broke," Abby gasped. "I…"

"It's okay, Abby. Just calm down," Lina instructed, pulling out her phone to call an ambulance. "Everything's going to be fine."

"It's too early," Abby said, tears streaming down her face. "It's too early, Lina."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** You all didn't really think I'd leave you hanging with that cliffhanger for very long, did you? I'm not that mean! Well, not most of the time, anyway...

As a warning, I've got a crazy workweek ahead with corporate coming to town, so updates might be a little delayed...or, who knows, maybe I'll be so stressed that I'll be writing all the time and they'll be super fast! Just wanted to give you a heads up, just in case!

* * *

><p>"What have we got?"<p>

"Female, thirty-three years old, approximately thirty-four and a half weeks pregnant," the paramedic called out as they wheeled the stretcher into the emergency room. "Water broke thirty minutes ago, but no sign of contractions. Unexplained bleeding seems to have stopped en route."

"What's her name?" the ER doctor asked, directing the group into an open exam room.

"Abby," Lina said, still holding Abby's hand. "Her name is Abby Kowalski."

The doctor nodded, looking at Lina for a moment. "And you are…?"

"Detective Lina Flores." Lina reached into her pocket and pulled out her badge. "She's my partner."

"Right." The doctor nodded and turned to Abby. "Okay, Abby, I'm Dr. Patterson. We're going to run some tests and figure out what's going on, alright?"

Abby nodded.

"Is there someone you want us to call for you, Abby?" Dr. Patterson asked.

"Brody," Abby said quietly.

"I've already called him, Abby," Lina assured her. "He'll be here as soon as he can. And I called your mom. She said she and your dad are on their way."

"Alright then," Dr. Patterson said. "I'll be back in just a few minutes."

Stepping out into the hallway, Dr. Patterson turned to the nurse who had followed him. "We're going to need to page obstetrics and get her up to maternity. I can deliver babies down here, but not when there's complications."

"I already paged them, sir," the nurse said. "They're at least twenty minutes out."

"Twenty minutes? What the hell are they doing up there?"

"Callahan and Myers got food poisoning," the nurse explained. "Jenkins is in the middle of a Caesarian as we speak. They had to page Amy Kowalski to come in from her kid's dance practice."

Dr. Patterson sighed and nodded. "We'll have to wait, then. In the meantime, let's get her up to the maternity ward and get me a portable ultrasound and a fetal monitor. I want to know what's going on in there."

* * *

><p>"Lina!"<p>

Lina turned around and sighed as the door to the waiting room swung open and Don and Sheila rushed in with all three Kowalski brothers close on their heels.

"Where is she?" Richie asked anxiously. "Is she alright?"

"I don't know," Lina admitted. "They took her to the maternity ward to run some tests. They wouldn't let me go with her, and no one will tell me anything. All the nurse would tell me was that they were waiting for a specialist."

"Amy," Donnie said quietly.

"What the hell does she have to do with this?" Steve asked.

"She called while we were on the way here," Donnie said. "Needed me to take the kids so she could take an emergency patient. I told her to just bring them here, that we'd already be here. I can't believe I didn't make the connection…"

"I'm sorry, I'm missing something," Lina said in confusion. "Who's Amy?"

"My ex-wife," Donnie explained. "She's an obstetrician. Specializes in high-risk deliveries."

"Oh." Lina nodded. "I guess this could be awkward then, huh?"

"It usually is when Amy's involved."

"Hey, where's Brody?" Richie asked, looking around the room. "Shouldn't he be here?"

"I can't reach him," Lina admitted.

"What?"

"I told Abby he was on his way so she wouldn't panic…but I haven't been able to reach him," Lina said. "I've left half a dozen messages, called his supervisor…he clocked out half an hour ago and no one knows where he went after that."

"She's going to want him here," Donnie said.

"She was already asking for him," Lina admitted.

Richie sighed and pulled his keys out of his pocket. "I'm going to look for him."

"You're just going to drive around the city until you find him?" Steve asked skeptically.

"I have a few more specific ideas first," Richie said. "But if that's what I have to do, then yes."

* * *

><p>Abby frowned as the door to her room opened and a petite woman with strawberry blonde hair pulled back into a tight bun walked into the room.<p>

"Amy?"

Amy Kowalski sighed at the surprise and distrust in Abby's voice. It was to be expected, she knew, but it still hurt. She hadn't been in love with her husband for the last year or two of their marriage, but that didn't mean it hurt any less to let him - or his family - go.

"Hi Abby." Amy stepped into the room and immediately began evaluating the readings on the machines surrounding Abby's bed. "Before you ask, several of my colleagues are sick today. There is no one else qualified to take your case."

"I was just going to ask if the baby was alright."

"Oh." Amy blushed slightly and turned back to the machines. "Are you having any pain?"

"No. Amy…please just tell me the baby's okay," Abby pleaded.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Abby," Amy said, pulling up a stool so she could sit by the bed. "I'm concerned by the amount of bleeding the paramedics described in their report. It sounds to me like a placental abruption - probably a partial one, but still…"

"What does that mean?" Abby asked fearfully. "Is it bad?"

Amy hesitated for a moment. "It's not good, Abby. A placental abruption is when the placenta tears away from the uterine wall."

"Oh God," Abby gasped, tears welling up in her eyes. "I did this, didn't I? I was climbing stairs, I…this is my fault, isn't it?"

Amy shook her head and grabbed Abby's hand. "Abby, listen to me. I've seen women who run marathons at thirty-six weeks pregnant and deliver perfectly healthy babies, and I've seen women who do nothing strenuous for forty weeks and who have terrible complications. In most cases, we don't know exactly what causes an abruption, but I promise you, this was not your fault. Okay?"

Abby nodded.

"Good. Now, I need to do an ultrasound to try to see the abruption, but you need to understand that even if I don't see it, it's probably still there…I'd say in something like sixty percent of my patients, it's not visible on the ultrasound. After the ultrasound, we'll have a better idea of what kind of shape the baby is in and what we're dealing with. At that point, we'll probably need to schedule a Caesarian to deliver the baby."

"Is the baby in danger?"

"With the abruption, there is a concern that the baby might not get enough oxygen. Right now, the baby's heart rate is hovering between 115 and 120, which is a little lower than I'd like, but not bad, so I don't think the baby is in any kind of distress at the moment," Amy assured her. "We're going to keep the fetal monitor on you and keep a close eye on the baby. I've got an alarm on the monitor and OR team on stand-by right now…if the baby's heart rate drops below 110, we'll have you in the OR and the baby out in less than fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes?" Abby asked skeptically.

Amy smiled. "My record is seven minutes, forty-three seconds from the time the alarm sounds. I'm very good at what I do, Abby." Amy squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I've got to go check on a few things. I can't let you have the Kowalski clan back here, but I can send one or two if there's someone you'd like?"

"Brody," Abby said without missing a beat. "I want to see Brody. And my parents, if they're here."

* * *

><p>Amy held up a hand to silence the crowd of her former in-laws that rushed to their feet as she entered the waiting room.<p>

"She's stable, for now," Amy said. "The baby doesn't appear to be in distress."

"What happened?" Lina asked anxiously.

"It appears that the placenta has partially torn away from the inner wall of the uterus," Amy said calmly. "It's what's known as a placental abruption. There is a risk to the baby now, but we're monitoring everything very closely. If we need to, we can have the baby out very quickly."

"But she's only thirty-four weeks," Sheila said, concern etched in her face.

"It's early, yes, but it's not unheard of," Amy assured her. "Chances are, if we delivered today, the baby might have some complications, but nothing like what you think of when you think of most preemies."

"So what happens now?" Steve asked.

"I'm going to perform an ultrasound to try to get a better picture of the baby's condition," Amy said. "After that, I'll need to talk to Abby to get her consent, but we'll probably schedule a Caesarian for tomorrow morning. Of course, if something changes with the baby in the meantime, we're prepared to deliver the baby before that."

"Can we see her?" Don asked.

Amy nodded. "Not all at once, but yes. She'd like to see you and Sheila, and Brody." Amy paused and looked around. "Is he here?"

"Not yet," Lina said. "We're still trying to reach him."

Amy nodded and turned to her former mother-in-law. "She's in room 314. It's just down the hall, if you want to go ahead. I'll be in shortly."

With that, Amy quickly turned and headed out of the room and down the hall toward her office, relieved to be out of her first meeting with the full Kowalski family since the divorce was finalized.

"Amy!"

Groaning internally, Amy turned around at the sound of her ex-husband's voice behind her.

"What, Donnie?" she asked impatiently.

"What aren't you telling us?"

Amy frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Donnie sighed. "Amy, we were married for twelve years. You get this look on your face when you're holding something back. Just tell me what you wouldn't tell Mom and Dad."

Amy hesitated for a moment, opening the door to her office and motioning for Donnie to follow her inside.

"Please, Amy. We're talking about my baby sister and her baby here."

"You think I don't know that?" Amy asked, her voice cracking slightly as she closed the door. "She was the maid of honor in our wedding, Donnie. She was my friend long before she was my sister-in-law. You think I wasn't thinking of all of that when I was examining her tests?"

"I'm sorry, I know," Donnie said. "I know you care about Abby. But you're not telling us something, Amy. Is the baby in more danger than you said?"

Amy shook her head. "No. If there had been signs of fetal distress when she came in, things could have been dicey. As it is, now that we're monitoring her, I'm very confident that even if the baby goes into distress, we'll be able to deliver a healthy baby."

"So what are you worried about?"

Amy hesitated again. "Abby."

"What?"

"Placental abruption can be just as dangerous for the mother as for the baby," Amy said. "Sometimes more. Something inside of Abby has basically ripped apart. When we go in to do the delivery, the risk of internal bleeding is much higher than normal. And the sort of bleeding I'm talking about…well, it's very difficult to stop, Donnie."

"Could she…could she die? Have you had patients die from this?"

Amy bit her lip but nodded.

"Oh God…" Donnie gasped. "Does she know?"

"No, and I don't intend to tell her," Amy said. "She needs to stay calm right now, Donnie, or her stress will put the baby at greater risk. Abby feeds off of her family, so you can't tell them either, because she'll know something is going on."

"She needs to know what she's facing, Amy."

"Donnie, I don't think you understand what I'm saying," Amy said. "There isn't a choice here for her to make. She won't make it to full term and there won't be a natural delivery. We have to do a Caesarian. And the risk Abby is facing from that…well, there is absolutely _nothing_ that anyone can do about that. What good would telling her do?"

"I don't know," Donnie admitted. "It's just…she's my baby sister, Amy. I'm supposed to protect her and this…"

Amy felt her heart break a little as Donnie fought back the tears. With a heavy heart, she pulled him into a hug and let him cry. "I know," she whispered. "I'm going to do everything I can, Donnie. I promise you that."


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:** I'm so sorry I've not had time to respond to your reviews individually...crazy doesn't begin to describe this week! I hope you enjoy the next chapter...we're getting very close to baby time!

* * *

><p>"Mom, I'm scared."<p>

Sheila sighed and wrapped her arms around Abby as soon as she and Don walked into her room. "Oh sweetheart, I know."

"Everything's going to be alright," Don assured her.

Abby glanced anxiously over her shoulder toward the door. "Where's Brody?"

"He's coming," Sheila said quickly, exchanging a look with her husband across the bed.

"He was at work, but he's on his way as quickly as he can," Don added.

Abby nodded. "Amy said they want to deliver the baby tomorrow," Abby said. "I'm not ready for this."

"Oh Abby," Sheila sighed. "No one's ever quite ready."

"No, you don't understand, Mom," Abby insisted. "My old apartment is full of boxes, the new apartment is completely empty…I have no home to the take baby home to. We're not ready…I don't even have a name yet."

"Your mother didn't name Donnie until two days after he was born," Don pointed out.

"Really?"

Sheila nodded. "I think the nurses were afraid they were going to have to send me home without a name. Do you have some ideas yet?"

"Yeah," Abby admitted. "I've got a few."

"Anything you want to share with the grandparents?" Don asked.

Abby shook her head. "No. I…I need to talk to Brody first. Why isn't he here? It's not _that_ far from Englewood."

"He was on shift, honey," Don lied. "You know it takes to time to get someone to cover if you leave early. He'll be here soon."

"Promise?"

Don hesitated for a moment. "Yeah, I promise."

* * *

><p>Brody opened the front door of the house in the Chicago suburbs and grinned as a dark-haired, blue-eyed teenager rounded the corner into the entryway.<p>

"John!" she exclaimed in surprise, tossing her arms around his neck. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi Megs," Brody laughed as he kissed her on the cheek. "I need to talk to Dad. Is he around?"

Megan Brody nodded. "He's in the back room. Where else would he be? What do you need to talk to him about?"

"It's kind of personal, sweetie," Brody said.

"Too personal to share with your favorite sister?" Megan frowned for a moment before she gasped and broke into a huge grin. "You're going to ask for it, aren't you? For this Abby person?"

Brody shrugged. "Maybe."

"You are, aren't you?" Megan exclaimed excitedly. "Oh my God, John, that is so exciting!"

"Why are you so excited? You haven't even met her."

"Well, no, but I heard she's fantastic."

"From who?"

"Well, I heard from Rachel and Evie, who ran into Olivia at the bank a few days ago, who heard it from your mother, who heard it from Jessica."

Brody groaned. "I swear to God, this family is like one convoluted game of telephone."

"You'd better get back there and ask Dad while he's still half-sober," Megan said. "Trust me, you don't want to try getting anything out of him once he's past his fourth drink."

"Excellent point," Brody said, patting his sister on the shoulder. "See, smarts like that are why you shouldn't drop out of college for that boy."

"John…"

Brody threw his hands up defensively as he made his way past his youngest sister toward the living room. "I know, I know…staying out of your bad decisions."

* * *

><p>"You can't possibly be serious about this."<p>

Brody sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you really think I'd be here if I wasn't serious, Dad?"

"You're going to be raising someone else's child, John," Robert Brody pointed out, leaning back in his chair. "You're not ready for that."

"How the hell would you know that?" Brody asked, his patience wearing thin. "You hardly know me."

"I'm your father."

"And when was the last time you actually spent any time with me?" Brody asked. "You don't know a damn thing about my life right now, because you're too busy drinking scotch and pretending things are the way they were before Elisabeth died."

"Why you…"

Brody didn't flinch as his father leapt to his feet. "I'm not here to fight with you, Dad. If you want to drink the rest of your life away, I'm not going to stop you. I just want Grandma's ring and I'll be gone."

"Well you're not getting it."

"It belongs to me," Brody pointed out. "Grandma left it to _me_."

"But it's in my safe, and so long as it's for this girl you won't even introduce to your family, you're not getting it."

"I never said you couldn't meet her," Brody said. "Jessica met her and loved her."

"Oh, and I'm supposed to trust the word of a woman whose mother is the biggest liar I've ever met?"

"Hey! That's _my_ mother you're talking about, don't forget that," Brody said angrily, shaking his head. "You know what? I don't need this. Grandma would have loved Abby, and Grandma would have been thrilled to have her wear her ring…but it's not worth this. I'll buy a new ring."

Brody turned and slammed the door behind him as he stormed out of the room.

"And you wonder why I'm running away with Pete?"

Brody frowned at his sister, who was sitting on the staircase watching him carefully. With a heavy sigh, he shook his head. "You've still got that cell phone I gave you for emergencies?"

Megan nodded. "Relax, John. I know I can call you if I need a rescue. But Pete's a good guy. We're going to be fine in California."

"Dad needs help," Brody said, glancing back toward the closed door.

"I know," Megan agreed sadly. "But if he's not ready to face the fact that Mama's gone, we sure as hell can't make him…and I'm not sticking around while he figures it out."

"You'll be careful?"

Megan grinned. "You worry too much, John. Pete's a very resourceful guy."

"Oh?"

Megan nodded as she reached into her back pocket. "He helped me get this," she said proudly, handing him a small velvet box.

"How did…Megan…" Brody frowned in confusion as he lifted the lid to find his grandmother's ring inside the box. "This was locked up in Dad's safe."

Megan shrugged. "Like I said, he's very resourceful. We had to get our bus money somewhere."

Brody shook his head. "The cop in me is pretending I didn't hear that. You just make sure you don't do anything I'm going to have to come bail you out of, okay?"

"Deal." Megan smiled and stood up to hug him. "Don't forget to call me when I'm an auntie, big brother."

* * *

><p>Richie sighed in relief and flashed the lights on his patrol car as he drove down the street and saw Brody walking out of the house. He'd been a half dozen other places already - Brody's apartment, the neighborhood bar, even his mother's house - but he'd saved what he considered the least likely possibility for last. He knew Brody and his father weren't close, but apparently he should have made his rounds in reverse order.<p>

Slowing to a stop in front of the house, he rolled down his window as Brody approached the car.

"Richie? What are you doing here?" Brody asked, leaning toward the window in confusion.

"Get your ass in the car," Richie said impatiently. "Haven't you checked your cell phone?"

"Dad lives in a dead zone," Brody said. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Get in the car," Richie repeated.

Brody frowned but opened the door and climbed into the passenger's seat. "What's going on, Richie? You're scaring me, man."

"Abby's in the hospital."

Brody felt his heart stop as Richie pulled away from the curb. "What happened?"

"Something about a tear in her uterus, I don't know, I didn't really follow the medical stuff Steve was telling me over the phone. She's stable now, but they want to deliver the baby in the morning."

"She's only thirty-four weeks," Brody said in concern.

Richie shrugged. "Apparently they don't have any choice."

"Oh God," Brody sighed.

"She's been asking for you."

"Really?"

Richie almost smiled. "Don't sound so surprised. She loves you."

"I know."

Richie nodded as an awkward silence fell around them. It seemed like that was becoming a regular occurrence for the two of them. "So, uh…how's your old man?"

"Stubborn. Drunk. Same pain in the ass he's been for years," Brody said.

"So why'd you go see him?"

"Had to get this," Brody said, pulling the ring box from his pocket and showing it to Richie, who let out a low whistle.

"That's quite a ring."

"It was my grandmother's," Brody said. "She left it to me, but since she died while I was in…well, while I wasn't around…my dad's been keeping it in his safe for me."

"So this is the real deal? You're going to marry my sister?"

Brody nodded. "If she'll have me."

Richie grinned and stepped on the gas a little more. "She will."


	19. Chapter 19

"Are you ready for this?" Amy asked, pulling the ultrasound cart up next to Abby's bed. "Do you want me to have your parents come back in?"

Abby shook her head. "No. Let's just do this."

"Alright then." Amy nodded and pulled back Abby's hospital gown. "You know the drill, the gel's a little cold."

Abby grimaced and nodded as Amy squirted the gel onto her stomach and positioned the ultrasound wand.

"So…" Amy hesitated for a moment as she focused on the screen. "You and Brody, huh?"

Abby smiled. "Surprised?"

"Maybe a little," Amy admitted. "You haven't had a serious relationship since just after we finished college, Abby."

"If you're talking about Ryan Parker, I think we had an agreement to pretend that year never happened," Abby said, smiling slightly.

"True," Amy said. "I guess I just assumed you were done, it's been so long. I thought Missy was making things up when she came home after Christmas and told me you were having a baby."

"Yeah, well, I thought she was making things up when she told me that you and Donnie were splitting up," Abby said. "Your daughter listens too well."

Amy sighed as she adjusted a setting on the ultrasound monitor. "I suppose I deserve that."

Abby shook her head. "No one hates you, Amy. We're just…disappointed, I guess. Neither one of you were happy. If you'd just admitted it and separated, this whole thing would have been a lot less painful."

"Hindsight's always 20/20, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Abby agreed. "You know, I almost called you the night I found out I was pregnant."

"Really?"

Abby nodded. "I kept thinking about that time freshman year, when Jenny Tyler found out she was pregnant. Remember that?"

"How could I forget? I failed my biology midterm the next day because you and I stayed up all night with her, trying to convince her that her life wasn't over. I think that was the only all-nighter I pulled in college."

"Yeah, but that's because you're freakishly smart. I think if you hadn't been my roommate, I would have flunked out after one semester."

Amy shook her head. "Not a chance, Abby. You did just fine on your own. All I did was help you study."

"Things have sure changed a lot since then, haven't they?" Abby asked. "Do you ever wish we could just go back?"

"Sometimes…but if we went back, I wouldn't have my kids. And you…well, you wouldn't have this baby." Amy paused and adjusted the ultrasound wand again. "Speaking of which…I know you chose not to find out earlier, but if you want to know what you're having, I can see that."

Abby hesitated for a moment. She opened her mouth to respond but stopped as the door to the room swung open.

"It's about damn time," she muttered as Brody stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," he said quickly, hurrying to her side and taking her hand.

"You didn't miss much," Abby said, squeezing his hand.

Amy smiled at the two of them. "I was just asking Abby if she wanted to know if it was a boy or a girl."

"I don't know," Abby admitted. "Isn't that a little like getting to the end of a marathon and deciding that last tenth of a mile just isn't worth your time?"

"It's up to you," Brody said. "I'm fine either way."

Abby shook her head. "I want to be surprised. It's not like we need to know, we've already got one boy name and one girl name."

"We do?" Brody asked in surprise.

Abby blushed slightly. "Well…I do."

* * *

><p>Amy smiled as she walked down the hall later that night and heard a roar of laughter coming from Abby's room. Giving the noise a moment to calm down, she opened the door and cleared her throat loudly.<p>

"So," she said, crossing her arms over her chest, biting back her own laugh at the guilty looks on the faces of the people crowded into the room. "What part of one or two people was too hard for you to understand?"

"Did you really think they were going to stay away?" Abby asked.

Amy shrugged her shoulders. "Too much to ask?"

"Were you or were you not a member of this family for more than a decade?" Richie asked. "What in that experience would give you the idea that we'd listen?"

"Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to put my foot down," Amy said. "You all need to leave."

"Absolutely not," Richie said. "We have every right to be here."

"Not after visiting hours," Amy said. "This is a hospital and…"

"Oh, get over it, Amy, you can bend the rules," Steve snapped. "Cheat a little. You're good at that."

"Hey!" Donnie exclaimed defensively. "That was uncalled for!"

"Oh, so now you're on her side?" Steve asked. "Grow a pair, Donnie."

"Don't you dare…"

"Enough, all of you!" Sheila shouted, immediately quieting all three of her sons. "Really, you'd think the three of you were children. Now, whatever your personal feelings, Amy's right. This is a hospital, there are rules, and she has a job to do."

"But…"

"No buts, Steve," Sheila interrupted.

Amy sighed, her hands trembling slightly. "We've scheduled the surgery for eleven tomorrow morning," she said. "Visiting hours start at eight, so you can come back to see Abby before we deliver the baby. I'll call if anything changes overnight."

"We need to get Willie from my sister's anyway," Laura said, standing up and dragging Richie to his feet by his elbow. "And Steve, I'm sure Gail would appreciate you going home to help with the girls and the baby."

"Fine," Steve grumbled, reluctantly standing up, kissing Abby on the forehead before following Richie and Laura out of the room.

"You still have our number in case something changes?" Sheila asked anxiously.

"I've got it," Amy assured her. "I promise, Sheila, I'll take good care of her. You two get some rest and come back ready for another grandbaby tomorrow."

Sheila smiled and slipped her hand into Don's. After saying a brief goodbye, they too left the room, leaving just Brody and Donnie in the room with Amy and Abby.

"Does John have to go too?" Abby asked, a hint of panic in her voice.

Amy hesitated for a moment.

"Come on, Amy," Donnie said. "He's the baby's father."

Abby smiled and squeezed Brody's hand as Amy nodded.

"I can have one of the nurses set up a cot for you," Amy offered. "As long as it's _just_ you and not the whole Kowalski army."

"I promise," Brody said.

"Alright then." Amy nodded and hesitated slightly in the doorway. "I guess I'll go see about getting that set up."

"I should get going too," Donnie said, standing up from his chair.

"Actually…Brody, could you give us a minute?" Abby asked.

Brody glanced back and forth between Abby and her brother. "Sure." Brody leaned down and kissed her gently. "I'll be right outside if you need me."

Donnie waited until Brody was out of the room and the door closed behind him before he took his spot beside the bed and stared curiously at his sister.

"Don't look at me like that," Abby said. "You know perfectly well what I want to talk to you about."

"Honestly, Abby, I don't have a clue."

Abby sighed. "What's going on with you and Amy?"

"Going on?"

"You're being awfully defensive of her tonight," Abby pointed out.

"Oh for crying out loud," Donnie groaned. "Now I can't even stop my idiot brothers from being jackasses to the mother of my children without suddenly being in love with her again?"

"I don't know, can you?"

"Yes, Abby, I can," Donnie insisted. "Look, Amy and I were screwed up for a long time before she cheated on me, and I take as much responsibility for the marriage going to hell as she does. I don't hate her, Abby, so I'm not going to let the guys be jerks to her. But it doesn't mean anything deeper."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Donnie sighed. "We were married for twelve years, Abby. We've got three great kids together. Part of me will always love her, and we're always going to care about each other."

Abby nodded. "Okay. Just had to check."

"Why?"

"Because you seem to have a habit of making my friends fall in love with you, and I really don't feel like having to pick you over Mackie the way I had to pick you over Amy."

Donnie frowned. "You think Mackie's in love with me? Did she say something?"

Abby smiled. "I can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

"Girl code," Abby sighed, pausing to stifle a yawn.

Donnie shook his head. "I think that's my cue to head out for the night. Enjoy your rest tonight…tomorrow you start eighteen years of not sleeping through the night."

"Yeah, yeah." Abby laughed as Donnie kissed her cheek and headed toward the door. "Send Brody back in on your way out."

"Hey Abby?" Donnie asked, his hand on the doorknob as he turned back to his sister. "For the record, I never meant for you to have to choose. Just because we didn't work out, that doesn't mean you can't still be friends with Amy."


	20. Chapter 20

_Beep…beep beep…beep beep beep…_

Brody's eyes flew open as the alarm on the fetal monitor began to sound rapidly in the middle of the night. Sitting upright, he blinked twice as the lights in the room flicked on and a nurse rushed in.

"What's going on?" he asked anxiously, grabbing Abby's hand as the nurse examined the machine's readings.

"I need to get Dr. Kowalski," the nurse said, not looking over at them before she hurried out of the room.

"John…"

"It's going to be okay, Abby," Brody assured her, running his hand along her cheek. "Everything's going to be fine."

Both of them looked up as the door opened again and Amy walked quickly into the room with two different nurses following her.

"Amy?" Abby asked fearfully.

Amy glanced at the monitor for a moment before sighing and turning to Abby and Brody. "The baby's heart rate is dropping, Abby. We have to deliver now."

"Now?" Brody asked in shock.

Amy nodded and turned to the nurses. "Call the OR and let them know we're on our way." Amy quickly unhooked the monitor and glanced across the bed at Brody. "You can scrub in to be with her, but you'll have to move quick. I'm not waiting for anyone, we're getting this baby out now."

* * *

><p>Abby was crying by the time Brody had changed into scrubs and was led into the operating room. Brody glanced anxiously at Amy, who was already standing by, waiting for the nurses to finish the final pre-surgery preparations.<p>

"Hey, I'm right here," Brody whispered, pulling up the stool next to Abby's head, running a hand along her cheek. "It's all going to be okay, I promise."

"We're going to start now, Abby," Amy said, nodding at Brody.

"I can't see what's happening," Abby said, tilting her head slightly to try to see beyond the cloth barrier preventing her from observing what was happening to her lower body.

"They're just starting," Brody said. "Don't worry, I'll let you know when it's time."

Abby nodded, her gaze locked with Brody's as they waited in silence. Brody knew it would be fast, but even he was surprised by how little time had passed when suddenly a tiny cry filled the room.

"It's a boy," Amy called out as she cut the umbilical cord and handed the baby off to a nurse, who quickly carried him to a warming table on the other side of the room.

"Is he okay?" Abby asked breathlessly. "Go…go check on him, John. Please?"

Brody nodded and kissed her forehead softly before walking to the warming table.

"Wow," he whispered, momentarily speechless at the sight of the tiny little boy on the table in front of him, limbs waving wildly in the air as he screamed.

"He's got a good set of lungs on him," the nurse said with a smile, carefully suctioning out the baby's nose and throat.

"Is he…is he alright?" Brody asked.

The nurse nodded. "He's small, but he's in pretty good shape."

"Okay." Brody nodded, unable to tear his gaze away from the baby. "Okay."

"John?"

Abby's voice finally broke Brody's concentration and he quickly hurried back to her side. "He's perfect, Abs," he said with a smile. "Absolutely beautiful, just like his mom."

Abby smiled. "Good…a boy…that's…good…"

Brody frowned at the sound of her voice. "What's wrong, Abby?"

Abby shook her head. "I'm fine…fine…"

"Abby, stay with me down there," Amy called out from the other side of the cloth barrier. "John, keep her talking."

"Name…" Abby muttered.

"That's right, did you have a boy's name?"

Abby nodded. "Mi…Michael…"

"Oh, Abby," Brody sighed.

"That's…that's it…right? Your friend?"

"Yeah." Brody nodded. "That was his name."

"Is that…okay?"

"It's more than okay, sweetheart," Brody assured her. "It's perfect."

"Good…" Abby nodded, still short of breath. "Love you…"

"Abby!" Brody was back on his feet as Abby's eyes drooped closed.

"Her pressure's dropping!" a nurse called out from near one of the monitors.

"Damn it," Amy muttered. "We've got another bleed. Jenny, get me more suction in here, I can't see a damn thing."

"What's going on?" Brody asked anxiously.

Amy frowned as she glanced up briefly. "Get him out of here. Now!"

"No…just tell me what's going on…" Brody shrugged off the nurse who tried to lead him toward the door.

Amy sighed. "John, she's bleeding internally. I need to focus to find the source and stop it before she bleeds out, and I can't do that with you in here freaking out on me. So don't take this personally, but _please_...get your ass out of my OR."

* * *

><p>Amy paused momentarily in the doorway of the NICU. Despite the number of babies she'd delivered who ended up in this unit, she rarely came here herself - after delivery, her job was to focus on the mother, and as a mother herself, there was something about being surrounded by the tiniest of babies that broke her heart every time she found herself here.<p>

Across the room, Brody sat next to an incubator, his hand pressed against the plastic side, his head bowed slightly. With a heavy sigh, Amy made her way past the other incubators to where he was sitting. As she approached, Brody looked up expectantly, not daring to ask the question on the tip of his tongue.

"She's got a long recovery ahead of her, but I think she's going to be just fine." Amy smiled at the way his shoulders dropped and his whole body seemed to relax.

"She's okay?"

"She lost a lot of blood on the table," Amy cautioned. "She's had two units of blood transfused, and she might need another if her body doesn't regenerate red blood cells fast enough. But we stopped all the bleeding, so at this point, it's just a matter of waiting for her body to heal itself. That could be a long process, but it's one that she will get through."

"Where is she now?"

"She's in recovery. It'll be a few hours before we move her back to her room, and we're probably going to need to keep her here for monitoring for at least a week."

Brody nodded and turned back to the baby in the incubator. "I should call her parents."

"I just got off the phone with them. They're on their way now," Amy said, placing a hand on the incubator. "I also spoke to the neonatologist. He said this little guy's doing remarkably well."

"Yeah." Brody smiled softly as he looked at the baby. "He was in about twenty minutes ago. He said Michael will probably only have to be in here about a week."

"Well, with any luck, we'll have Abby ready to go home about that same time," Amy said, taking a moment to look down at the baby. "So…Michael, huh? I kind of thought that she might want to name him after you. The Kowalskis are pretty big about names with meaning."

"One of my best friends was, uh, killed in Iraq about eight years ago," Brody said quietly. "His name was Michael. Abby knew that would mean a lot more to me than naming him after me."

Amy smiled and nodded. "Do you want to hold him?"

Brody hesitated. "Can I?"

"I asked the neonatologist before I came in here." Amy paused and unhooked the clasps holding the plastic side of the incubator up. "He's breathing on his own and his body temperature is stable. There's no reason to keep him in the incubator 24/7…actually, at this point, a little human contact is probably the best medicine he can get."

Amy slowly lifted the tiny baby out of the incubator, smiling again at the little cry he let out, and placed him in Brody's arms. She carefully adjusted the oxygen line running to the baby's nose, making sure it was securely fastened before taking a step back.

"It looks good on you."

Brody frowned in confusion. "What does?"

"Fatherhood."


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N:** I am SO sorry it has taken so long to get this chapter up! The next one shouldn't take nearly so long, as it looks like "real" life is finally calming down a little. As a head's up, we're almost at the end here for this story...I believe there will be one more chapter, and then an epilogue.

* * *

><p>Sheila gripped her husband's hand tightly as Amy walked into the waiting room.<p>

"They won't less us in to see her, Amy," she said anxiously. "I need to see her."

Amy nodded. "I understand, but she's still in recovery, Sheila. Once she's back in her room, you can see her."

"But she's alright?" Don asked.

"She will be," Amy assured them. "I promise, she's going to be fine. We're pretty well past the dangerous part."

"I just don't understand what caused this," Sheila said. "She was fine when we left a few hours ago."

Amy sighed and shook her head. "She wasn't fine, Sheila. She and the baby weren't in immediate danger, but they were definitely not fine. That's why we were planning to deliver this morning…we knew her condition would only get worse. It just progressed faster than I'd hoped it would."

"But what caused the problem in the first place?" Sheila pressed.

"There's no way to know," Amy said. "It's a relatively rare condition, and we don't fully understand what causes in it otherwise healthy women. It was nothing she could have prevented, but I can't say what caused it."

"Will it happen again?" Don asked. "Can she have more children if she wants to?"

Amy smiled. "Physically, there's no reason to think she'd have any trouble getting pregnant again. She'd need to be monitored by a high-risk pregnancy specialist to make sure another tear doesn't develop…but that's all something I can discuss with her if and when she's ready."

"Are you already planning for more grandchildren?" Sheila asked. "Abby and John aren't even engaged."

"Not yet."

"Not yet? Do you know something I don't know?" Sheila asked suspiciously.

"Well…" Don hesitated for a moment. "Richie told me when he went looking for Brody yesterday, he found him at his dad's place…which is somewhat unusual, because according to Richie, Brody rarely speaks to his father these days. Apparently he went to collect his grandmother's diamond wedding band."

Sheila gasped in surprise. "Oh, how wonderful. Then they'll really be a family, all three of them."

"Three?" Amy asked in confusion.

Sheila nodded. "John, Abby and the baby." She paused for a moment and frowned. "Oh Don, the baby. We were so focused on Abby, we haven't asked about the baby yet."

"He's very small, but he's doing well," Amy said.

"He?" Don asked. "It's a boy?"

Amy smiled. "Why don't you come see for yourself?"

* * *

><p>Brody smiled as the baby twisted slightly in his arms. "You comfortable, buddy? I know, that fluorescent light isn't nice, is it? Don't worry, we don't have any of those at home. You'll like your room, but we'll have to do some set-up before it's ready. See, we weren't quite expecting you so soon. We've already got the paint, though, so I'll make sure it's ready for you to come too. I had to fight your mom on the color, so someday I hope you appreciate that it's not blue and orange."<p>

Brody shook his head and laughed quietly. "Yeah, you're not going to have much choice, little man. Your mom loves you so much, but don't test that by not being a Bears fan…you might cause more of a scandal than when your mom joined Internal Affairs. You can just take my word for it, that one was bad."

Brody smiled as he ran a finger along the baby's cheek. The baby was barely bigger than his two palms cupped together, and he'd never imagined something so small could have such a tight hold on his heart. "You look a lot like your mom, Michael," Brody whispered softly. "Your mom is one of the strongest women I've ever met, so you're got a pretty good role model there. And you're named for one of the bravest men I've ever known, so really, that's a double good start for you. Just remember, no matter what your uncles tell you, you can do anything you want in life, okay? You don't have to be a cop, and don't believe Uncle Richie if he tries to tell you otherwise. Your mom and I, we love you no matter what.

"And someday…" Brody sighed and glanced away from the baby for just a moment. "Someday, you'll probably know that I'm not your biological dad. Just don't get confused about that, buddy, because I promise, it doesn't matter…I'm going to do everything I can to be your _real_ dad. I love you so much, little man…and in a few days, we'll get all that paperwork sorted out, and you, your mom and I will all go home as a family."

Brody glanced up at the sound of footsteps and smiled as Amy led the Kowalskis across the room.

"Oh my goodness," Sheila gasped, tears welling up in her eyes at the sight of the baby. "He's so small."

"Four pounds, seven ounces," Brody said. "But he's strong, Mrs. K. All the nurses have been saying so."

Sheila nodded and leaned back against Don's chest as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Our third grandson," he said proudly. "Does he have a name yet?"

Brody nodded. "Michael. I, uh, don't know if Abby had a middle name picked out too, she just said Michael."

"Michael Brody," Sheila repeated softly. "It has a nice ring to it."

"It sure does," Don agreed.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean, she's not here?" Richie asked impatiently, staring at the nurse in the hallway outside Abby's room.<p>

"She's in recovery," the nurse said.

"Who's in recovery?" Steve asked, walking up behind Richie.

"Abby, apparently."

Steve frowned and turned to the nurse. "That's not right. She's not supposed to have her surgery until eleven. It's only eight o'clock."

"All I know is she's in recovery," the nurse repeated. "They'll be moving her back to her room later."

"Hey guys," Donnie said, walking up behind them with a cardboard tray of coffees in his hand. "What's going on?"

"Abby's in recovery," Richie said.

"What?" Donnie frowned in confusion. "I thought her surgery wasn't until eleven?"

The nurse sighed. "Look, I just came on shift thirty minutes ago. All I was told was that the patient in 217 was in recovery and would be back in the room around nine."

"I think you need to call your ex," Richie said, turning to Donnie and grabbing one of the coffees from the tray. Taking a sip, he grimaced almost immediately. "Good God, what is that?"

Donnie almost laughed at his younger brother's expression. "A grande non-fat, sugar-free hazelnut latte with an extra shot and six Splendas."

"Why the hell would buy something like that?" Richie asked in disgust.

"Because it's delicious," Amy said, walking up to Richie and taking the coffee out of his hand. "I'm assuming this is for me? Or have you found someone else with an obsessive taste for Splenda?"

Donnie shook his head. "I hope you're unique in that respect, Amy."

"In that case, thank you." Amy raised the cup in a tiny salute before taking an appreciative sip. "You guys should probably be in the waiting room. Abby won't be out of recovery for another hour or so."

"Why is she there in the first place?" Steve asked.

"You haven't talked to your parents yet?" Amy asked in confusion.

All three Kowalski brothers shook their heads.

"Oh. Right. Okay then." Amy took a nervous breath. "There were complications overnight. We had to deliver the baby earlier than expected."

"Is Abby alright?" Donnie asked anxiously.

Amy nodded. "She's going to be just fine."

"And the baby?" Richie asked.

"He's doing extremely well," Amy said. "Brody and your parents are up in the NICU with him right now."

"Him? It's a boy?" Steve asked.

Amy nodded. "They've named him Michael."

Steve smirked and held out a hand to his brothers. "Pay up, boys. Both of you."

Amy stared incredulously as Richie and Donnie pulled out their wallets. "You bet on your sister's baby?"

"Of course we did," Steve said, slipping the money into his own wallet. "I had fifty with Richie on it being a boy, and fifty with Donnie on them naming it after Brody. I win on both accounts."

"Unbelievable," Amy muttered, shaking her head as she took another sip of her coffee. "Wait…you all weren't betting on my kids when I was pregnant, were you?"

"I, uh…I think I'm gonna call Gail…let her know the baby's here…" Steve stammered nervously.

"Um…yeah…that's a good idea, I'll call Laura…" Richie eagerly pulled out his cell phone and followed Steve down the hall, leaving Amy glaring at Donnie.

"Hey, don't look at me. I wasn't involved," Donnie said innocently. "The rule is, you can't bet on your own kids."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: **As promised, here is the last "regular" chapter! There will be an epilogue coming shortly to wrap everything up. Enjoy!

* * *

><p>"Alright, what exactly are we supposed to be doing here?" Donnie asked that afternoon as he followed Steve down the hallway of Abby's new apartment building.<p>

"I told you, we're moving Abby and Brody into their new apartment," Steve said. "Dad's driving the U-Haul over from her old place and Gail, Laura and Mom will be here soon…apparently they've got dibs on decorating the nursery."

"And in the meantime, what are we supposed to do?" Donnie asked.

"Mom said there were some boxes already here," Steve said.

"Right." Donnie nodded as the stopped in front of Abby's door. "And how are we supposed to get in?"

Steve frowned. "Um…you don't have a key?"

"I thought you did."

"Does anyone have a key?" Steve asked.

"I don't…" Donnie stopped as he heard Richie's voice down the hall.

"What are you two standing around for?" Richie called out.

"We don't have a key," Steve said. "Do you?"

Richie shook his head. "I've got something better."

Steve and Donnie stared at him skeptically and noticed a brunette woman trailing him slightly.

"What is she, a locksmith? We can't break into Abby's apartment, Richie."

Richie rolled his eyes. "She's not a locksmith, Donnie. Guys, this is Jessica Sinclair. Brody's sister. Jessica, this is Steve and Donnie."

Jessica nodded and smiled, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a keychain.

"How come she has a key and we don't?" Steve asked.

"Because my father owns the building," Jessica said, sticking the key into the lock and turning the doorknob.

"Wait…Brody's dad owns this building?" Donnie asked in surprise.

"Stepdad," Jessica said, pushing open the apartment door. "We have the same mother, different fathers. And thank God for that."

"Why do you say that?" Steve asked.

Jessica sighed as they all stepped into the apartment. "Look, I'm not one to bad-mouth other people…but Robert Brody is a grade-A jackass. John's father is a drunk who treats his children like garbage. He went off the deep end after his second wife died."

"He and Brody hardly speak anymore," Richie added.

"Oh, that didn't have much to do with Elisabeth's death. Robert's always had a problem with the fact that John and my father are so close," Jessica said. "In a way, I can understand his resentment…my mother left Robert for my father, and no guy wants to play second fiddle to the man his wife left him for. But still…it's no excuse for the way he's treated his children, especially how he was with John when he got back…" Jessica shook her head. "Okay, off my soapbox now…had to get that out of my system before the girls get here."

"The girls?"

Jessica nodded. "Rachel and Evelyn Brody…John's sisters. They're at his old place right now, grabbing the boxes he was planning to bring over last night."

"Exactly how many sisters does he have?" Steve asked.

"Five. My sister Olivia lives in Denver, but the rest of us are here. Rachel, Evelyn and Megan are Robert's daughters. They're a bit on the younger side…Megan's seventeen, Evelyn's nineteen and Rachel's twenty-two."

"Somehow I can't picture Brody with sisters," Donnie said.

"He's everything you could want in a big brother," Jessica said. "And you didn't hear it from me, but if you catch my mother in the right mood, she might be willing to share a couple of old pictures of him playing dress up and having tea parties with the younger girls."

* * *

><p>Brody stared wearily up at the clock on the wall of Abby's room, mindlessly watching the seconds tick by. It was nearly three o'clock in the afternoon. He sighed and grabbed the cup of coffee on the nightstand, taking another big gulp. He'd been up early for a double shift the day before, so he figured he was now going on close to forty-eight hours on the fitful two hours' sleep he'd managed overnight on the cot in this room.<p>

He just had to force himself to stay awake until Abby woke up. Amy had assured him that this was normal, that her body would need lots of extra rest over the coming days and weeks, and that she would wake up soon. Unfortunately, that didn't mean it worried him any less as he sat by her side and waited, as much as he believed and trusted her.

It certainly didn't help that it had been over an hour since he had last seen any of the Kowalskis, either. He knew their absence could only mean that they were up to something, and he wasn't sure he was up for a surprise from one of Abby's brothers right about now.

A quick knock on the door pulled his attention away from Abby for a moment. Turning his head, he breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the slightly heavyset middle-aged woman standing in the doorway, a look of concern in her blue eyes. Brody quickly stood up out of his chair.

"Mom."

"Oh, John." Molly Hamilton sighed as she stepped into the room and wrapped her arms around her only son. "I came as soon as I could, sweetheart. Is she alright?"

Brody hesitated and looked down at Abby, still so pale and ashen as she lay in the bed. "She will be."

"That's good. And the baby?"

Brody smiled. "He's doing great."

"And what about you?"

"Me?"

Molly nodded and motioned for him to sit down as she pulled another chair over from the corner of the room. "It's been a stressful few days for you. You look exhausted."

"I'm fine, Mom."

"John…"

Brody sighed, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his thighs. "I'm scared, Mom," he admitted. "There was a moment in there, in the OR, when I thought…what if she doesn't make it? What would I do?"

Molly carefully placed a comforting hand on her son's shoulder. "But she's going to be fine, John. That's over now."

"What if I can't do this, Mom?" Brody asked, his voice quiet and hesitant. "What if I can't be as strong as they need me to be? What if I let them down?"

"You won't."

"You don't know that, Mom."

Molly sighed and nodded. "John, being a parent is the hardest thing you'll ever do. And being someone's spouse, that's the second hardest. But they're also the most worthwhile. You're going to make mistakes and you're going to screw up and you're going to feel like you've let them down. No one knows what they're doing going into this. All you can do is love them and do the best you can…and pray you don't screw them up too badly."

Brody let out a short laugh. "Is that what you did with me? Pray?"

"Oh, you have no idea how many prayers you've been in, John," Molly said. "You can ask Jack, he thought I was going to die before you made it out of high school. But you turned out alright in the end."

"Gee, thanks for the ringing endorsement."

Molly smiled. "I'm proud of you, John. Jack and I both are. You know that, right?"

Brody nodded.

"I, um…I heard you went to see your father yesterday."

Brody nodded again. "Just to get Grandma's ring. He didn't even want to give it me."

"Your father has always been a very stubborn man."

"This isn't the part where you tell me to give him time, is it? That he'll come around eventually?"

Molly sighed and shook her head. "John, if I thought time would have helped Robert Brody, we might still be married. Do I hope he comes around? Of course I do, for your sake and for his daughters' sakes. Elisabeth would have hated the father he's been to them since she died. But I'm not going to pretend like I think it's all that likely. I gave up trying to defend your father years ago."

"Me too. I just hope Megan makes it out alright."

"I'm sure she will," Molly assured him. "She's strong, just like her brother."

"I don't feel so strong right about now," Brody admitted.

"Oh sweetheart." Molly sighed and wrapped arms around him again as he turned toward her. "That's why I'm here, honey. You don't have to be strong with me."

* * *

><p>An hour later, with his mother downstairs in the cafeteria getting more coffee, and still no sign of the Kowalskis, Brody finally put his head down on the side of Abby's bed and closed his eyes for a moment.<p>

He wasn't sure how long he actually slept for, but when he opened his eyes again, the sun had nearly set out the window on the opposite wall. He sighed and almost closed his eyes again when he felt the soft touch of fingers in his hair. Lifting his head and turning to the head of the bed, he smiled.

"Hey you."

Abby smiled back as he sat up and took her hand in his. "I didn't mean to wake you up," she said, her voice hoarse from anesthesia and lack of use.

"I'm glad you did."

"Where's everyone else?"

Brody shrugged. "I haven't seen them for a few hours. I'm thinking they can't be up to any good."

"Probably not," Abby agreed.

"So…" Brody hesitated for a moment. "I think before we go any further, we need to establish a new rule."

Abby frowned. "Okay…"

"You are never, ever…_ever_ again allowed to scare me like you did in that operating room this morning. Got it?"

"I'll do my best."

Brody nodded. "Good. Because you and I still have a lot of things we haven't gotten to do yet…and I don't intend to do them with anyone else, so you better plan on sticking around for a _long_ time."

"Is that so? And just what did you have in mind?"

"Well, for starters…we've never taken a vacation together."

Abby smiled. "Oh? And where exactly would we go?"

"Well…" Brody pursed his lips thoughtfully. "If we're taking the little one, I think we'd have to go to Disney World to see Mickey Mouse."

"Mickey Mouse? Brody, have you ever even been to Disney World?"

Brody grinned. "Abby, I'm a child of divorced parents who constantly fought for my affection. As a kid, all I had to do was say _I want_…and I had it. Of course I've been to Disney World."

Abby started to laugh but immediately grimaced in pain. "My stomach was cut open this morning, Brody. Please don't make me laugh."

"Sorry," Brody said quickly. "Are you in a lot of pain?"

"Surprisingly, no." Abby shook her head. "I suspect I'm on some pretty good painkillers. So…what would we do if we weren't taking the baby?"

"Oh, that one's even easier," Brody said with a wide grin. "All we'd need is a tropical island somewhere…lots of sun, a beach, cutesy umbrella drinks…and as few articles of clothing as we could legally get away with."

Abby smiled and shook her head. "And just when do you expect we're going to have any time to take this trip? I'm pretty sure our next eighteen years are booked up…and by the time I'm in my fifties, you may reconsider that clothing part."

"I doubt that." Brody leaned forward and kissed her gently. "Besides, I'm quite sure that between your parents and your brothers and my sisters, we could find several someones who would be more than willing to watch Michael for a week or so while we took a honeymoon."

"A what?"

Brody smiled, pushing his chair back as he reached into his back pocket and dropped to one knee beside the bed.

"Abby Kowalski, will you marry me?"

Abby gasped as Brody opened the small velvet box and pulled out the diamond ring.

"Oh John…"

Brody's hands were shaking as he held his breath, waiting for her to answer.

"Yes."

"Yes?"

Abby smiled and nodded as Brody carefully slipped the ring onto her finger. "I love you," she whispered, tears in her eyes as he eased himself up from his knee and kissed her softly. "I love you, John."


	23. Epilogue

**A/N: **I can't believe I spaced on posting this epilogue for so long. I am soooo sorry! I hope that you all enjoy this somewhat belated wrap-up of this story. Thank you for reading!

* * *

><p><em>Twenty-four years later…<em>

Abby paused for a moment as she set the last box onto the empty desk, taking one last look around the office she'd occupied for the past six years. The newspaper clippings detailing the homicide division's most successful investigations under her command had been pulled off the wall and shoved haphazardly into a folder that was tucked into the box between the stack of framed photographs she'd removed from her desk. It had taken a hell of a lot of work to get from IA to this office, but somehow, she wasn't nearly as sad to leave it behind as she'd thought she'd be.

"Having second thoughts?"

Abby looked up and smiled at the woman in the doorway. "Believe it or not, not even one."

"I gotta say, I never thought I'd see the day. Lieutenant Abigail Brody, willingly retiring from the CPD. I'm pretty sure there's a pig sprouting wings out there somewhere."

"Very funny, Lina." Abby shook her head and laughed. "Who would have thought after that first case we worked together in IA that I'd end up here?"

"I did," Lina said, stepping into the office. "I always knew you'd ditch me for homicide."

"Hey now, that's not fair," Abby protested. "If you hadn't gotten yourself promoted to run IA, I might have been tempted to stay. But with you in the top spot, I _had_ to leave to get my own promotion."

"And now that you have it, I can't believe you're leaving it all behind."

"Don't go getting all misty-eyed on me, Flores. It's not like you're going to see any less of me, it just won't be at work."

"I know…it's just, it's going to be weird, you know? I mean, I know it's been ten years since we were partners, but still…we went through a lot together."

"And I'm sure there'll be a lot more to come," Abby said, a twinkle in her eye as she thought about the upcoming weekend. "You want to crash the bachelorette party tonight?"

Lina groaned. "Abby, I'm sure whatever the girls are planning for tonight, the last thing Carla wants is for her mother and her godmother to witness it. Besides, do you really think you can keep up with a bunch of twenty-three year olds anymore?"

"What are saying? That I'm old?"

"Hey if the shoe fits…"

"Yeah, yeah…at least I'm younger than you." Abby smirked at the look of pretend offense that Lina assumed. "I just thought it might be fun to drop by. You know, since I never got to have a bachelorette party before I got married."

"That was not my fault," Lina pointed out. "As I recall, I offered…"

_Abby sighed as she flipped open another case file and pulled out the blank summary report she needed to complete. Reaching over to pick up her pen, she looked up in surprise as the stack of files was yanked off her desk._

_"Hey!"_

_Lina shook her head as she dropped the files onto her own desk. "It's almost seven o'clock, Abby."_

_"I've just got a few more reports to finish up," Abby insisted. "I have to get everything done before I leave."_

_"I'll finish it."_

_"But I…"_

_Lina tossed Abby's jacket at her and grabbed her own with a quick shake of her head. "I know this might be hard for you to believe, Kowalski, but the department will survive without you for a week and a half while you get married and go on your honeymoon. We did muddle through those three months you were on maternity leave, remember?"_

_"I know that."_

_"Then act like it. Put that jacket on and get out of here. Don't you have a kid to pick up from daycare?"_

_"He's with Brody's mom tonight," Abby said, slipping on her jacket. "Apparently she and my mom think I need to relax tonight."_

_"And I'm pretty sure they didn't mean for you to do that with paperwork," Lina said. "Come on…you're getting married tomorrow, you need to get the hell out of here."_

_Abby sighed and nodded, grabbing her bag from underneath her desk. "I'm getting married tomorrow," she repeated quietly._

_"Okay, if you're going to have a freak-out, you need to call someone else," Lina said. "I'm your partner, not your relationship counselor."_

_"I'm not freaking out."_

_"You sure?"_

_"I'm not freaking out," Abby insisted. "I'm actually kind of…well, calm, I guess. It's weird."_

_Lina smiled. "So, you want to grab one last drink as a single woman?"_

_Abby shook her head. "Nope."_

_Lina frowned as she opened the door to the hallway and the two partners left the office. "Really?"_

_"No drinks."_

_Lina arched an eyebrow and stared at Abby for a moment. "Oh my God," she gasped when she saw the coy smile Abby was trying to hide. "How far along are you?"_

_Abby blushed and looked down, her hand resting on her still-flat stomach. "About eight weeks."_

_"Damn. You and Brody sure don't waste time, do you? Michael's, what? Six months old?"_

_Abby shrugged innocently. "What can I say? My fiancé's hot, I couldn't help myself."_

Abby smiled at the memory of the night before her own wedding. "Okay fine, so that one was my fault. Well, sort of. I really can't help it if my husband is incredibly sexy. You've got four kids, you should understand."

"Abby, you had five kids in seven years. That's a level of crazy even I didn't go to."

"And yet with all that evidence, you still wonder why I'm retiring?"

Lina laughed. "No…I'm wondering how you managed to stay on the force for thirty years."

* * *

><p>Two days later, Abby fought back the tears as she hugged her son tightly, kissed his cheek and then took her seat next to her husband as her son made his way to his spot at the front of the church. Brody reached over and silently squeezed her hand as she leaned against his shoulder.<p>

"He's so not old enough for this," she whispered.

Brody chuckled. "He's twenty-four, Abby. He's old enough that the CPD saw fit to give him a badge and a gun, remember?"

Abby frowned. "I still don't think he's old enough for that either."

Brody smiled and kissed his wife's cheek. "He's going to be fine, Abby."

Abby sighed and nodded reluctantly as soft music began to fill the church. Turning to the back, she smiled as the bridal party began making their way down the aisle one by one.

"You want to talk not old enough, I'd say our daughters are not old enough to be wearing strapless dresses like those." Abby rolled her eyes and glared at Brody, who simply shrugged. "What? I'm just sayin'…"

Abby shook her head and turned her gaze back to the aisle. This wedding couldn't have been more different from her own if they'd tried. For one thing, she was fairly certain that the bride was not pregnant, and she certainly didn't have a little baby sitting in her mother's arms as she prepared to walk down the aisle. Try as she might, Abby never could figure out how her mother had convinced Father Callahan to perform her wedding in the Catholic church.

The bridesmaids and groomsmen slowly filled in the space on either side of the altar. At her own wedding, Abby hadn't even had so much as a single bridesmaid, let alone the half dozen that now stood at the front of the church. She'd thought about it, but the one thing she'd insisted on had been a very small ceremony, and no matter how hard she'd tried, she never could knock down the size of her potential bridal party to anything that even remotely matched the small number of guests they'd planned for. There was no way she could have had bridesmaids and not included Lina and Mackie, but at the same time, she couldn't imagine a bridal party without Gail or Laura either. And then there had been the sticky matter of her renewed friendship with Amy. No matter how nice everyone played at the odd family get-together, she knew there would always be a level of awkwardness at having your brother's ex-wife and his current girlfriend in the same wedding party. But she'd been Amy's maid of honor, and she knew there was no way she'd feel right about having bridesmaids and not including her. In the end, it had been much simpler to just have her mother and Brody's stepfather stand up as their witnesses.

As the wedding march began to play and the bride appeared at the back of the church on her father's arm, Abby glanced up at her son and smiled before looking across the aisle and sharing a knowing wink with Lina. Sometimes, even she was surprised at how perfectly life seemed to have come together in the end. Even after Michael had been born, after she and Brody had been married and the adoption finalized, a small part of her had spent more time than she was willing to admit questioning her decisions, wondering when someone was going to show up and pull the rug out from underneath them. She could still clearly remember the moment when she'd realized that wasn't going to happen, when it had become clear just how right her decisions had been, both for her and for her son…

_The biting winter wind was just beginning to pick up as Abby stepped out of the cab, turning back around and lifting her son out of the backseat. Handing a twenty dollar bill to the driver, Abby grabbed her shopping bag from the backseat and shut the door, turning around just in time to see her son sprinting down the sidewalk toward their apartment building._

_"Michael!" she called out, cringing as he ran straight into a man's legs, falling to the ground and bursting into tears._

_"Oh, honey," Abby sighed, rushing to his side and dropping her bag as she crouched down to hug him. "You're okay, sweetheart."_

_Abby brushed a tear from his cheek as she reached over and grabbed his glasses off the sidewalk, rubbing them on her coat before putting them back on his face and kissing his forehead. "You're not hurt, sweetheart. You just have to watch where you're going."_

_Abby helped him back to his feet before looking up sheepishly at the man he'd run into. "I'm sorry, he doesn't look where he's going sometimes, he…"_

_Abby's jaw dropped as she met the man's eyes and she found herself speechless._

_"Takes after his mother?"_

_Taking a deep breath and setting her shoulders back, Abby grabbed Michael's hand and stood up. "Danny," she said quietly. _

_"Hi Abby."_

_"What…what are you doing in Chicago?"_

_Danny shrugged. "It's Christmas. My mom guilted me into a visit this year. She's, uh, not doing well…it kind of looks like it might be her last Christmas, so we figured we'd better come out."_

_"We?" Abby asked curiously._

_"My wife and I."_

_"You're married?" Abby asked in surprise._

_Danny nodded. "About a year and a half now. You?"_

_"It'll be three years on New Year's Day." Abby nervously twirled her wedding band around her finger. "Do, uh…do you two have any kids?"_

_Danny quickly shook his head. "God, no. Mary and I work at the same firm. We barely have time to see each other, let a alone a kid. It's not something either of us want to be burdened with."_

_Abby instinctively reached down and rested a protective hand on Michael, as though he might somehow sense the offense Abby felt in Danny's statement. "Does she know…"_

_"About him?" Danny shook his head. "No. There didn't seem to be any reason to tell her."_

_Abby nodded. "I suppose not."_

_"Is he, um…" Danny sighed and frowned as he looked down at Michael. "I don't even know his name."_

_"Michael."_

_"Michael," Danny repeated softly. "Michael Kowalski. I…"_

_"No," Abby interrupted. "Michael Brody. The adoption was finalized the week after we got married."_

_"Right." Danny nodded and looked back down at Michael, who had ducked behind Abby's legs. "My lawyer said he was early. Is he alright now?"_

_"He's perfect," Abby said protectively. "He's nearly caught up with where he'd be if he hadn't been premature. He'll always need the glasses, but that's a small thing, really."_

_"He looks like you," Danny observed._

_Abby smiled. "People are always telling me he looks like Brody. He likes that, hearing that he looks like his dad."_

_"Is he an only child?"_

_Abby shook her head, knowing that her heavy winter coat covered her slightly swollen stomach. She smiled as she rested a hand on it. "He's got a sister, and there's another one on the way."_

_Danny nodded, an awkward silence falling over the pair for a moment._

_"We'd better get going," Abby said eventually. "We're doing Christmas Eve with my in-laws…we're probably already running late."_

_"It was good to see you."_

_Abby nodded, picking up her bag off the sidewalk. "Merry Christmas, Danny."_

_"Merry Christmas," Danny said quietly, turning and watching as Abby and Michael disappeared into the apartment building behind him. With a quick shake of his head, he turned away and hailed a cab to take him back to his hotel._

_A burden_ - as long as she lived, Abby didn't think she'd ever forget the anger she'd felt hearing her son described that way. Her life hadn't always been easy or pleasant, but there wasn't a single moment of her marriage or her time with her children that would ever have described as a burden. Sure, there'd been fights, disagreements over the kids, or work, or whose family to spend the holidays with. Their beautiful little babies had grown into argumentative, trouble-making teenagers - karma, as both of their mothers had been quick to point out whenever they complained. But it was the life she'd chosen, and as the priest turned the young couple to face the church and introduced _Michael and Carla Brody_, Abby knew she wouldn't have traded one second of it for anything.


End file.
